At a joint sitting, the Foreign Relations, and the EU Integration Committees heard the three-month review of the execution of Georgia’s 2026 State Budget, presented by the First Deputy Finance Minister, Giorgi Kakauridze.

According to the presenter, the 2026 budget had been planned based on a projected economic growth rate of 5%; however, growth in the first quarter of the year exceeded this forecast.

In particular, the average real growth rate in the first quarter amounted to 9.1%. Real GDP growth stood at 7.9% in January, 8.8% in February, and 10.7% in March. As regards inflation, annual inflation reached 4.3% as of March 2026, while the annual average inflation rate stood at 4.4%.

Giorgi Kakauridze placed particular emphasis on developments in foreign trade and tourism. According to his statement, in the first quarter of 2026, Georgia’s external trade turnover amounted to USD 5 billion 867 million, of which exports accounted for USD 1 billion 723 million and imports for USD 4 billion 143 million.

As noted by the presenter, the EU was Georgia’s largest trading partner in the first quarter of the year, accounting for 21.4% of total trade turnover.

With regard to tourism, Giorgi Kakauridze reported that the number of tourist visits in the first quarter amounted to 997,000.

In his presentation, the First Deputy Minister also reviewed the performance of mixed and state budget revenues for January–March 2026. He drew particular attention to the execution of budget appropriations by spending institutions, noting that the Foreign Affairs Ministry achieved an execution rate of 91.2%, with expenditures amounting to GEL 55.5 million.

The Committees took note of the report.