World Bank2014-08-142014-08-142014-06-11https://hdl.handle.net/10986/19302Generating growth and creating jobs within a sustainable fiscal framework is Georgia s biggest macroeconomic challenge. Although Georgia registered rapid growth of 5.7 percent a year during 2010-13, unemployment remains high at 15 percent. New growth companies, especially in tourism and other service sectors, did not generate enough formal or even informal employment. Fiscal policy played a crucial role in Georgia s recent growth performance with a fiscal stimulus driven post-crisis recovery which increased deficit and debt levels followed by fiscal consolidation during 2010-12 when recovery took hold. The weak execution of the budget in 2013 and policy uncertainty were largely responsible for the growth slowdown during the year. Tackling the growth and jobs agenda in Georgia will require significant investment in human and physical capital and the government has a large role to play here. Additional spending, where it is needed, should be undertaken within the fiscal consolidation agenda of the government, designed to help restore the macroeconomic buffers needed to secure stability and sustain confidence in the future. The change in government in 2012 marked a shift in fiscal policy with prioritization of recurrent social expenditures over capital spending, thereby, increasing budget rigidity. During 2012-13, the government raised the benefit levels under the targeted social assistance (TSA) and pensions and introduced universal health care (UHC). As a result, the fiscal deficit is likely to increase from 2.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013 to 3.7 percent in 2014. Over the medium term, an aging population and the need to improve health outcomes and coverage of the poor in social assistance programs will keep social expenditures high at more than 9 percent of GDP. The share of capital expenditures will level off, meanwhile. Such an outcome will reduce the government s flexibility in trimming current expenditures in the future.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEMACCOUNTINGALLOCATIONANALYSIS OF SERVICE DELIVERYANALYTICAL SKILLSANNUAL BUDGETANNUAL BUDGET PREPARATIONANNUAL BUDGETSANNUAL REPORTAPPROPRIATIONARTICLEASSET MANAGEMENTAUDITORSBALANCE SHEETBANK POLICYBENEFICIARIESBENEFICIARYBIDBIDDERSBIDSBUDGET ALLOCATIONBUDGET ALLOCATIONSBUDGET CLASSIFICATIONBUDGET CODEBUDGET DECISIONSBUDGET DEPARTMENTBUDGET DOCUMENTATIONBUDGET ENTITYBUDGET ESTIMATESBUDGET LAWBUDGET PLANNINGBUDGET PREPARATIONBUDGET PROCESSBUDGET YEARBUDGETARY APPROPRIATIONSBUDGETARY PROCESSBUDGETARY RESOURCESCAPITAL ASSETSCAPITAL BUDGETCAPITAL BUDGETINGCAPITAL COSTSCAPITAL EXPENDITURECAPITAL EXPENDITURESCAPITAL INVESTMENTCAPITAL PROJECTSCAPITAL SPENDINGCAPITAL TRANSFERSCASH FLOWCASH FLOWSCASH INFLOWCASH MANAGEMENTCASH PLANNINGCENTRAL AGENCIESCENTRAL GOVERNMENTCHECKSCITIESCOMPETITIVE BIDDINGCOMPETITIVE PROCUREMENTCORRECTIVE ACTIONCOST ESTIMATESCOST OF SERVICESCOST-BENEFIT ANALYSISCOST-EFFECTIVENESSCREDIBILITYDECISION-MAKERSDECISION-MAKINGDECISION-MAKING PROCESSDEGREE OF TRANSPARENCYDISBURSEMENTSDISCOUNT RATEDISTRIBUTIONAL IMPACTSDUTCH AUCTIONDWELLINGSECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTEQUIPMENTEX POST EVALUATIONSEXPENDITURE ALLOCATIONSEXPENDITURE IMPLICATIONSEXPENDITURE PLANNINGEXPENDITURE POLICYEXPENDITURE PRIORITIESEXPENDITURE PROGRAMSEXPENDITURESEXTERNAL ASSESSMENTEXTERNAL FINANCINGFINANCE MINISTRYFINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITYFINANCIAL ASSETSFINANCIAL CONTROLFINANCIAL CRISISFINANCIAL INFORMATIONFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFINANCIAL MANAGEMENTFINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMSFINANCIAL PLANSFINANCIAL REGULARITYFINANCIAL RESOURCESFOREIGN FINANCINGGOVERNMENT INTERVENTIONHOUSINGINFORMAL PROCEDURESINFORMATION SYSTEMINFORMATION TECHNOLOGYINFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTINFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTSINSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTSINSTRUMENTINTERNAL AUDITINTERNAL AUDIT FINDINGSINTERNAL AUDIT FUNCTIONINTERNAL AUDITSINTERNAL CONTROLINTERNAL CONTROL SYSTEMSINTERNAL CONTROLSINTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSINTERNATIONAL STANDARDSINVESTINGINVESTMENT BUDGETINGINVESTMENT BUDGETSINVESTMENT MANAGEMENTINVESTMENT NEEDSINVESTMENT PLANNINGINVESTMENT PLANSINVESTMENT PORTFOLIOSINVESTMENT PRIORITIESINVESTMENT PROCEDURESINVESTMENT PROGRAMINVESTMENT PROJECTSINVESTMENT REQUIREMENTSINVESTMENT STRATEGIESLEGAL FRAMEWORKLIABILITYMEDIUM-TERM EXPENDITUREMEDIUM-TERM EXPENDITURE FRAMEWORKMINISTRY OF FINANCEMONETARY VALUESNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTNATIONAL INVESTMENTNATIONAL POLICYNATIONAL STRATEGYOPPORTUNITIES FOR CORRUPTIONPERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTPERFORMANCE AUDITPERFORMANCE AUDITSPERFORMANCE INDICATORSPERFORMANCE MANAGEMENTPERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMPORTFOLIOPOSSESSIONPOVERTY REDUCTIONPRIVATE SECTORPROCUREMENT PLANSPROCUREMENT POLICIESPROCUREMENT PROCESSPROCUREMENT SYSTEMSPROGRAM BUDGETINGPROGRAM OBJECTIVESPUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONPUBLIC BUILDINGSPUBLIC CAPITALPUBLIC EXPENDITUREPUBLIC EXPENDITURE REVIEWPUBLIC FINANCESPUBLIC FINANCIAL RESOURCESPUBLIC INVESTMENTPUBLIC MONEYPUBLIC PROCUREMENTPUBLIC SECTORPUBLIC SERVICESQUALITY ASSURANCERECURRENT COSTRECURRENT EXPENDITURERECURRENT EXPENDITURESREFORM EFFORTSREGIONAL DEVELOPMENTREGULATORY FRAMEWORKRESERVERESERVE FUNDSRETURNSROAD NETWORKROAD TRAFFICSANITATIONSECTOR EXPENDITURESELF-ASSESSMENTSERVICE DELIVERYSERVICE PROVIDERSSOCIAL BENEFITSSTATE BUDGETSTATEMENTSTREET LIGHTINGSUB-NATIONAL GOVERNMENTSSUPREME AUDIT INSTITUTIONSTAXTENDERINGTENDERSTRANSPARENCYTREASURYTREASURY SYSTEMTURNOVERUNCERTAINTYURBAN AREASVALUATIONWELFARE STATEWRITTEN RECORDS10.1596/19302