Georgian Prime Minister: We Have Decided to Increase Pensions for People Under 70 by 45 GEL

According to the head of government, this change will increase state budget expenditure on pensions by an additional 128 million GEL.
“We would like to share information with the public about two important decisions concerning social issues. We have decided to increase pensions for people under the age of 70 by 45 GEL instead of the 20 GEL предусмотренных under the indexation mechanism.

Accordingly, from January 1, the pension for people under the age of 70, excluding pensioners living in high-mountain settlements, will amount to 415 GEL.
This change will increase state budget expenditure on pensions by an additional 128 million GEL. I would like to remind you that social spending accounts for more than 33% of the state budget. In 2026, more than 5 billion GEL was allocated for old-age pensions, while 540 million GEL was allocated to co-finance the funded pension scheme. By comparison, only 1.065 billion GEL was allocated for pensions in 2012.

I would like to reiterate that one-third of the state budget is allocated to social spending. This means that social expenditure is already at the limit of acceptable levels and the recommendations of international financial institutions. Exceeding this limit would significantly slow economic growth and contribute to inflationary pressures, which would also directly affect the effectiveness of social spending.

Increasing social expenditure beyond the established limit would reduce the degree of fiscal consolidation, which would also have a negative impact on financing for Georgia from international financial institutions.
At the same time, within the permissible limits, we will make every effort in the coming years to increase pensions for people under the age of 70 beyond the amounts provided for under the indexation mechanism,” Prime Minister Kobakhidze said.