Parliament approved on November 19 with 88 votes to 0 the government-proposed amendments to the 2010 state budget revising targeted revenues from GEL 5.4 billion to GEL 5.36 billion and expenditures – from GEL 5.6 billion to GEL 5.69 billion.

Finance Minister, Kakha Baindurashvili, said on November 19, that the amendment was mainly related to increase of tax revenues by GEL 20 million and loan from international financial institutions on construction of high-voltage power line. As a result of this loan the Energy Ministry will see increase in this year’s funding from GEL 23.8 million to GEL 199.2 million.

The amendment also affects funding of most of the other ministries, except of Foreign Ministry and the three state ministries.

According to the amended 2010 state budget, apart of the Energy Ministry, funding of following ministries is increased to:

• Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development – GEL 71.2 million from GEL 55.6 million;
• Ministry of Labor, Healthcare and Social Protection – GEL 1.61 billion from GEL 1.6 billion;
• Ministry of Defense – GEL 748.7 million from GEL 744.5 million;
• Ministry of Internal Affairs – GEL 550 million from GEL 548 million;
• Ministry of Justice – GEL 47.5 million from GEL 45.3 million;
• Ministry for Penitentiary System and Probation – GEL 125.3 million from GEL 122.8 million;
• Ministry of Culture and Monuments Protection – GEL 57 million from GEL 54.9 million;
• Ministry of for Sports and Youth Affairs – GEL 31 million from 29.2 million;
• Ministry of Environment Protection – GEL 30 million from GEL 29 million;

Funding of the following ministries is decreased to:

• Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure – GEL 689.4 million from 782.3 million (although the amended budget increases funding for regional projects fund from GEL 194 million to GEL 240 million);
• Ministry of Finance – GEL 317.7 from GEL 348.6 million;
• Ministry of Education and Science – GEL 552.9 million from GEL 554.8 million;
• Ministry of Agriculture - GEL 38.3 from GEL 40.2 million;
• Minister of IDPs from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees– GEL 39.6 million from GEL 40.3 million;

The funding of the Georgian Public Broadcaster has been revised upwards to GEL 38.3 million; the revision also reflects additional GEL 10 million which the broadcaster received in the course of 2010 from the government’s reserve fund large part of which (GEL 7 million) was allocated to the broadcaster’s Russian-language First Caucasian Channel.

The amended budget also revised upwards forecasted 2010 economic growth from 4.5% to 5.5%.

When the 2010 budget was first amended in June the forecasted growth was revised from 2% to 4.5%.