The President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili met with Prime Minister- Nika Gilauri, the Minister of Health, Labour, and Social Affairs - Andria Urushadze, and the Minister of Finance - Dimitri Gvindadze. The process of the current pension reform was the main issue of discussion during the meeting. The members of government presented detailed information regarding the pension reform to the Head of State and also jointly stated that after September 15 the minimum pension in Georgia will reach 100 GEL. Accordingly, the 680 thousand senior citizens living in the capital as well as in the regions of Georgia will start receiving the increased pension after the date specified. The socially unprotected citizens and pensioners, who had additional poverty, monetization, or family aid, will continue to receive resources from these programs. According to Mikheil Saakashvili, today the main focus of the government should be on the socially unprotected population.
"During the world economic crisis, even countries richer than ours have decreased pension expenditures. We were the only country during the war and the economic crisis in 2008 that increased pensions. This is a minimal increase, but for people below the poverty line, it is coupled with other types of aid. Pensions in Tbilisi and the regions of Georgia differed in the past, but they have gradually become equal because the cost of living in the regions has recently increased to that of the capital. We are not an oil and gas producing country and we don't have a large budget, but it is important to allocate money collected from taxes on increasing pensions. It is very important that we spend equal amounts of money on social issues and development in order to keep a balance, because development of the country is a prerequisite of the advancement of our society" - said Mikheil Saakashvili.
According to the Prime Minister, the above-mentioned balance is fairly kept; 20-21 % of the budget is spent on social programs, other portions of the budget are spent on healthcare and education programs, as well as on economic development. As Andria Urushadze noted, the pension has increased approximately 7 times since 2004 and all the debts prior to 2004 have been paid. He also mentioned that the rate of the pension increase has already surpassed the rate of increase in consumer product prices.