National Bank President: Number of ministries in Georgia should be reduced
By Tea Mariamidze
Thursday, February 18
Giorgi Kadagidze, the President of National Bank of Georgia (NBG), whose term expires on February 25, spoke about the necessity to reduce the number of ministries in order to save money.
Kadagidze made this statement in his interview with the Archevani TV show on Rustavi 2.
According to the NBG Head, several of the 19 ministries in Georgia are not necessary and simply absorb additional expenses. He raised the example of Switzerland, where only eight ministries are functioning.
Kadagidze believes that the government will save money through the unification or abolition of some ministries, like the Ministry of Corrections, Ministry of Sports, Culture Ministry and Ministry of Euro-Integration.
"The budget should be reasonably distributed. State money should not be spent on everyone. It should be spent on those who need it most,” Kadagidze stated.
The NBG President also underlined that there is no communication between the government and small and medium businesses.
“The problems of small and medium businesses are the main challenge of the country and we should listen to them first. When the government and the Prime Minister meet with the business sector, they listen only to large business representatives. The reality is that small and medium businesses are the main cornerstones of the economy,” noted the NBG Head.
It should be mentioned that Giorgi Kadagidze was going to deliver a speech in Parliament but the parliamentary majority refused to listen to him.
Kadagidze says the decision of the majority is linked to the negative campaign recently carried out against him.
According to the NBG President, the government has made three main mistakes, which has a very negative impact on the economic development of the country and caused a loss of USD 250 million. These took the form of tightening visa regulations, land privatization laws and a number of court decisions.
The statements of Kadagidze caused a different assessment from the majority MPs.
Some of them approve of the idea to reduce the number of ministries, while others do not rule out the fact that after the expiration of his term as NBG President, Kadagidze intends to go in politics.
The Minister of Internally Displaced Persons, Sozar Subari, advised Kadagidze to refrain from making such political statements. He did not rule out the proposed changes but clarified that the government does not plan to abolish any agencies at this time. Subar believes that the NBG President “cannot wait to be involved in politics".
Meanwhile, the Chair of the Sector Economy and Economic Policy Committee, Zurab Tkemaladze, supported the position of Kadagidze and approved of the reduction of the number of ministries.
“I approve of the abolishment of not only several ministries, but some other agencies as well. The more agencies move to the private sector, the better,” he stated.
