Investing in infrastructure boosts Georgia's development
It's a well-known fact that the US overcame the circumstances of the "Great Depression" of the 1930's in large measure thanks to Franklin D. Roosevelt's investment program, which provided for redirection of financial flows into infrastructure construction, in particular - roads. To all appearances, president Mikhail Saakashvili has decided to deal with the economic crisis by these means.
According to the statement of the deputy minister for regional development, Djambula Bakuradze, this year Georgia will allot more than 900 million lari ($515 million) to road construction, a sum equal to 20% of the state's budget. To understand the meaning of these figures it's worth mentioning that, in 2003, Georgia's budget amounted to only 700 million lari. "We are going to complete the construction of the Tbilisi-Gori highway. Moreover, road reconstruction is planned
all over the country," Bakurdze said.
Indeed, Georgian authorities carry out road construction and do it quite successfully. The fore-mentioned highway is almost ready. But unfortunately this highway doesn't have any significant infrastructural or economic importance, as it runs right along the Georgian-Ossetian border, which is controlled by Russian frontiersmen. Meanwhile, investments into infrastructure go beyond road construction, with Georgia alloting funds to expand the gas supply into remote areas. Moreover, it is planned that the country will soon switch to a new system of payment for electricity. All residential
buildings will be equipped with electricity meters, replacing the collective system, which was the grounds for multiple conflicts between neighbors.
The International Monetary Fund still considers Georgia to be one of the most reliable partners for its wise budget policy. IMF officials point out that the Georgian authorities invest on long term prospects, unlike other states, which increase expenditures on salaries and retirement payments, ending up with inflation. One can even hear it said that nowadays Georgia deserves membership in the EU more thanGreece, with its unwise financial policy.
Georgii Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively for VK.
