2020-12-24
Commissioned by German Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies has conducted a study into the Impact of Anti-Pandemic Restrictions and Government Anti-Crisis Measures on Employment, Incomes and the Poverty Level in Georgia.
The study reveals that the Government's anti-crisis measures have significantly mitigated and cushioned the impact of the crisis.
The study shows that the Government's anti-crisis measures have been targeted very accurately to cover the most vulnerable social strata.
The implemented anti-crisis measures have effectively staved off a decline in incomes and an increase in poverty rates. In particular, without the Georgian Government's anti-crisis measures, unemployment may have risen by 20%, incomes could have dropped by 8.7%, and poverty rates could have increased by 4.4%, all of which would have signaled a rapidly worsening social environment. With the Georgian Government's anti-crisis measures in place, however, the rate of decline of income will be reduced by about 2%, and the unemployment rate in 2020 may drop to some extent, which should be considered a good result indicative of the high targeting accuracy of the Government's anti-crisis measures.
According to the study, the Government, alongside relatively short-term anti-crisis activities, has also introduced a package of more long-term recovery measures which-should the crisis continue, that is, if new waves occur-may bring about both anti-crisis and post-crisis effects.
The introduction of this package has raised positive expectations in the labor market, a factor that has contributed to the prevention of a rapid increase in the unemployment rates at the initial stage.
The study points out that, under the current circumstances, special importance is ascribed to the timely and targeted implementation of the long-term measures announced by the Government, in terms of easing the blow of a new wave, on one hand, and setting the stage for post-crisis economic dynamics, on the other.
See the study's full version:
In Georgian: http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/georgien/17143.pdf
In English: http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/georgien/17142.pdf
The Study's Team Leader: Merab Kakulia, Leading Researcher: Nodar Kapanadze.