Ivane Matchavariani delivered a speech at a high-level meeting with the Managing Director of the IMF.

How countries can overcome the economic crisis caused by COVID-19 and how to ensure rapid economic recovery in the medium term - these and other actual topics were discussed in a virtual format between the IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, and the Finance Ministers and Bank Governors from Central Asia.

It is especially important that at the event, held within the framework of the Annual Meeting of the International Monetary Fund, the Minister of Finance of Georgia delivered a speech as a leading speaker and talked about the current economic challenges in the country and in the region in general and pointed out the ways how to overcome these challenges. This again confirms our country's high reputation in the International Monetary Fund and trust of the economic policies pursued by the Government of Georgia in recent years.

From the Minister’s point of view, the deteriorating economic situation in the world and in the region, first of all, requires rapid steps towards the stabilization of macroeconomic policy, where the focus should be on quality goals. As the Minister noted, countries should be focused on overcoming existing vulnerabilities, including increasing economic diversification and further reducing dollarization;

At the same time, the Minister of Finance highlighted the growing role of the private sector, noting that more deregulation, effective reform of state-owned enterprises, and the promotion of a liberal business environment will be crucial in this regard. As the Minister said, bold and ambitious reforms are needed to restore economic growth. Ivane Matchavariani once again emphasized the role of the International Monetary Fund in this process and thanked the partners for their support to Georgia and to the region as a whole, both with the fight against COVID-19 and towards the development of the economy.