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Georgia Banking, the Budget, and the Currency
In the spring of 1991, Georgian banks ended their
relationship with parent banks in Moscow. The National Bank of
Georgia was created in mid-1991 as an independent central
national bank; its main function was to ensure the stability of
the national currency, and it was not responsible for obligations
incurred by the government. The National Bank also assumed all
debts of Georgian banks to the state banks in Moscow.
In 1992 the national system also included five specialized
government commercial banks and sixty private commercial banks.
The five government-owned commercial banks provided 95 percent of
bank credit going to the economy. They included the Agricultural
and Industrial Bank of Georgia, the Housing Bank of Georgia, and
the Bank for Industry and Construction, which were the main
sources of financing for state enterprises during this period.
Private commercial banks, which began operation in 1989, grew
rapidly in 1991-92 because of favorable interest rates; new
banking laws were passed in 1991 to cover their activity.
Under communist rule, transfers from the Soviet national
budget had enabled Georgia to show a budget surplus in most
years. When the Soviet contribution of 751 million rubles--over 5
percent of Georgia's gross domestic product (
GDP--see Glossary)
became unavailable in 1991, the Georgian government ran a budget
deficit estimated at around 2 billion rubles. The destruction of
government records during the Tbilisi hostilities of late 1991
left the new government lacking reliable information on which to
base financial policy for 1992 and beyond
(see After
Communist Rule
, this ch.).
In 1992 the government assumed an additional 2 billion to 3
billion rubles of unpaid debts from state enterprises, raising
the deficit to between 17 and 21 percent of GDP (see
table 17,
Appendix). By May 1992, when the State Council approved a new tax
system, the budget deficit was estimated at 6 billion to 7
billion rubles. The deficit was exacerbated by military
expenditures associated with the conflicts in South Ossetia and
Abkhazia and by the cost of dealing with natural disasters.
The 1992 budget was restricted by a delay in the broadening
of the country's tax base, the cost of assuming defense and
security expenses formerly paid by the Soviet Union, the doubling
of state wages, and the cost of earthquake relief in the north.
When the 1993 budget was proposed, only 11 billion of the
prescribed 43.6 billion rubles of expenditures were covered by
revenues.
Tax reform in early 1992 added an excise tax on selected
luxury items and a flat-rate value-added tax (
VAT--see Glossary)
on most goods and services, while abolishing the turnover and
sales taxes of the communist system. In 1992 tax revenues fell
below the expected level, however, because of noncompliance with
new tax requirements; a government study showed that 80 percent
of businesses underpaid their taxes in 1992.
In early 1993, Georgia remained in the "ruble zone," still
using the Russian ruble as the official national currency.
Efforts begun in 1991 to establish a separate currency
convertible on world markets were frustrated by political and
economic instability. Beginning in August 1993, the Central Bank
of Russia began withdrawing ruble banknotes; a new unit,
designated the coupon (for value of the
coupon--see
Glossary),
became the official national currency after several months of
provisional status. Rubles and United States dollars continued to
circulate widely, however, especially in large transactions.
After the National Bank of Georgia had been establishing weekly
exchange rates for two months, the coupon's exchange rate against
the United States dollar inflated from 5,569 to 12,629. In
September all salaries were doubled, setting off a new round of
inflation. By October the rate had reached 42,000 coupons to the
dollar.
Data as of March 1994
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