Pension of Georgians aged 70 and over will increase by GEL 50, pensions of those in the highland settlements will be GEL 500 - PM

According to the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Gharibashvili, the 2024 budget provides for an increase in pensions, and the trend of salary increases for healthcare personnel, law enforcement officers and other civil servants will continue - it is also planned to increase the salaries of kindergarten employees.

The Prime Minister spoke about the 2024 budget at the government meeting.

More specifically, as Gharibashvili noted, according to the 2024 budget, the pension of pensioners aged 70 and over will increase by 50 GEL and will become 415 GEL - the pension of the same category of pensioners in the highland settlements will be almost 500 GEL.

"The budget of healthcare and social protection programs is increasing by 870 million GEL. We have an increase in pensions - the pension of pensioners aged 70 and over will increase by 50 GEL and will become 415 GEL. The pension of pensioners of the same category in highland settlements will be almost 500 GEL.

For comparison, I will tell you that in 2012 the pension was 110 and 125 GEL. Now it is 415 GEL and up to 500 GEL in the highlands. This is the real result of the work of our government. The pension of persons under 70 years of age increases by 20 GEL and is set at 315 GEL, and in the highlands it will be 380 GEL.

As for other programs, the financing of social programs amounts to 5-6 billion GEL. 1.6 billion GEL has been allocated to finance the healthcare program, including, of course, a 10% increase in the salaries of primary healthcare personnel. The budget provides for an increase in the salaries of all civil servants, also by 10%. For the security forces, I would like to say that last year we made a 20% increase, and in total, in the last 2 years, we achieved an increase of almost 40-45% in the security forces: the police, the army and the special services. Salaries of other civil servants have increased by 30% in the last two years, including this new increase, which, of course, is very important, and we will maintain this trend, we will continue to encourage our civil servants and increase their salaries," Gharibashvili said.

According to him, the budget is increasing for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Education, where there will be important reforms.

"We will have important reforms and important innovations in the Ministry of Education. Education budget increases by 470 million GEL. In addition, I would like to say that we are working on the issue of salary increase for public school teachers and together with the new minister, we will present a new concept at the end of October", said Gharibashvili.

Regarding the construction-rehabilitation of public schools, according to the Prime Minister, 350 million GEL has been allocated and the construction-rehabilitation process will proceed at a high pace. According to him, 225 million GEL will be allocated for the construction and rehabilitation of kindergartens.