At a joint session of the Diaspora and Caucasus Issues, Culture, and Sports Committees, Members of Parliament reviewed the three-month performance overview of Georgia’s 2025 State Budget.

According to the First Deputy Minister of Finance, Giorgi Kakauridze, preliminary estimates by the National Statistics Office of Georgia indicate that in March 2025, real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 9.0% compared to the same period of the previous year. The average real GDP growth for the first quarter stood at 9.3%, with January registering 11.1% growth and February 7.7%.

In March 2025, the annual inflation rate was recorded at 3.5%, while average inflation for the period stood at 1.7%.

Compared to December 2024, the average exchange rate of the Georgian lari against the US dollar appreciated by 1.2% in March 2025, amounting to GEL 2.78 per USD. However, the nominal effective exchange rate of the lari—reflecting its average rate against those of trade partner countries—depreciated by 1.4%.

In January–March 2025, Georgia’s external trade in goods reached USD 5,618.6 million.

For the same period, the consolidated budget revenue target was set at GEL 6,406.3 million, while actual revenue mobilised reached GEL 6,541.2 million—102.1% of the target.

The state budget revenue forecast for January–March 2025 was GEL 5,581.2 million, while actual revenue collection amounted to GEL 5,700.4 million, also achieving 102.1% of the target.

“In terms of agency-level budget execution, the newly established Ministry of Culture disbursed GEL 45 million. This does not indicate any programme delays—on the contrary, all initiatives are progressing actively, and we expect similarly strong performance in the second quarter. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has executed GEL 50.2 million. No major diaspora-related activities took place in Q1, as most are scheduled for the second and third quarters. The sports sector has executed over GEL 73 million, with several championships planned for Q2 and Q3—no delays are anticipated in this area either", - G. Kakauridze stated.

The committees took note of the presented information.