`we have decided to refrain from taking the second part of the EU loan“, - Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili said in response to the statement made by Irakli Kobakhidze, Chairman of the Georgian Dream, on the issue of macro-financial assistance of the European Union.
According to him the main reason for this is that the government is trying to reduce foreign debt.
`The tragedy is that the citizens of our country, including the former President of our country, Saakashvili, go to the structures of the European Union. As you know, he is in the European People's Party and he has made every effort to impose some sanctions on us.
As for the macro-financial assistance, it is a loan, part of which we took in 2020. The second part of the 75 million euro loan was not a grant and assistance, but a loan. The Ministry of Finance will probably make a statement about this later. Given that we started reducing our foreign debt this year, it is highly likely that we will no longer need to receive this amount. We are grateful for all the help the EU has given us during the pandemic and in general for everything they are doing for us. We will continue to move in this direction.
On the other hand, this issue has been politicized, so in order to avoid any insinuations, we have also decided to refrain from borrowing this second part. The main motive is that we have gradually started to reduce foreign debt. We have a two-digit economic path, the growth of July will be up to 10%, which in total will be 12.2% economic growth for 7 months. This will generate additional revenue in the budget and by maintaining this pace we will have double-digit economic growth by the end of the year. Our opponents have resorted to sabotage to somehow hinder our country's progress towards the West. This is a hostile, harmful attitude“, - said Gharibashvili.
