During the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Annual Spring Session, the Minister of Finance of Georgia, Lasha Khutsishvili, met with the Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, Dan Katz.
Along with the Managing Director of the IMF, the Executive and Alternative Directors of the SFF, the Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department of the Caucasus and Central Asian Countries, and the Central Bank were also present at the meeting.
The Minister of Finance took part in the round table organized by the SSF, dedicated to the regional economic review.
“We have agreed with the International Monetary Fund that we will continue our very active cooperation, including all the important reforms the country is implementing, both from a fiscal and monetary perspective. Also, we agreed that the reform of state-owned enterprises will continue actively and the International Monetary Fund will be involved in both the planning and implementation process,” said Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili.
During the visit, the Minister of Finance met with the Managing Director of Operations of the World Bank, the Vice President of the World Bank in Europe and Central Asia, as well as the Executive Director of the World Bank.
“Important meetings were held at the World Bank, where we reviewed potential projects that we will start working on with the World Bank in the near future.” These projects are important because they promote investment in Georgia’s infrastructure. This includes both strengthening connectivity and mid-corridor infrastructure, as well as funding for energy projects. Other banks have expressed interest and readiness in this direction, including the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Asian Development Bank, which is traditionally very active in our region and specifically in Georgia, noted Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili.
He also spoke about meetings held with rating companies and noted that there is a positive expectation for improvement in ratings prospects.
In parallel with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank’s annual spring meetings, meetings were held with international investors and investment companies.
“It is important that, despite the current global situation, international investors still have an interest in investing in Georgian securities. I think that in the future this interest will remain and will grow even more. We are going to invite investors not only to the international market but also to the local market. We are actively talking about the issue of papers denominated in GEL. “In recent times, the interest from international investors has been high in this regard, but we think that with our activities, we will further encourage their participation in the local market,” said the Minister of Finance, Lasha Khutsishvili.
