Georgia - Managing Expenditure Pressures for Sustainability and Growth : Public Expenditure Review
Economic growth has rebounded strongly in Georgia during 2010-12 and commendable fiscal consolidation has been implemented, although considerable medium-term macro-fiscal challenges remain. To meet the challenge of generating rapid and sustainable growth in an uncertain global environment, Georgia will need to continue to implement and potentially deepen its fiscal consolidation program. This public expenditure review (PER) considers possible sources of expenditure pressure that could undermine the fiscal consolidation program and suggests options to manage them. Social expenditure pressures arise from the need to provide adequate old-age income to an aging population that relies primarily on the publicly funded pension benefit, as well as from needs to improve social assistance coverage of the poor, and improve health outcomes. Capital expenditure pressures arise from the need to rehabilitate a large backlog of the secondary and local road network in poor condition, continued improvement the East-West Highway, and from new investment needs in energy, water, agriculture, and regional development. The PER presents a number of options for consideration to manage fiscal consolidation, which can contribute toward greater selectivity in capital expenditures, enhanced sustainability of the road investment program, and containing medium-term social expenditure pressures. The specific policy options discussed above could collectively curtail expenditure pressures estimated at about 2.8 percent of GDP by 2015, thus enabling Georgia to meet its fiscal consolidation targets.