Georgia to slash spending on presidency, infrastructure projects

Georgia's new government is expected to cut spending on the presidency and many of the country's infrastructure projects in next year's budget. The country's newly-confirmed cabinet ministers gathered on Friday to discuss the 2013 budget, which is expected to be sent to parliament for debate and approval on Monday. Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili said his cabinet would work to slash the funding for the president's day-to-day work. It is "unimaginable" to spend so much on the president, when there are so many poor people in the country, he said. Georgia has to split some 485,000 dollars each month out of the Defense Ministry's budget for the president's plane, he said. Finance Minister Nodar Khaduri told reporters that funding for new infrastructure projects, which are considered not necessary at the moment, would be cut. He added that the government would carry through the unfinished projects. The ministers also doubted the rationale behind the 206-million-dollar parliamentary complex in Georgia's second largest city of Kutaisi. Next year's budget would surpass 8 billion laris (4.85 billion U.S. dollars), compared to 6.78 billion laris (4.1 billion dollars) for 2012.