Georgia signs agreement with World Bank, AFD for $400 mln and 100 mln euros to finance social sector

TBILISI. Oct 26 (Interfax) - Georgia, the World Bank and French development agency AFD signed an agreement in Tbilisi on Tuesday to launch a program to develop human capital, an Interfax correspondent reported from the signing ceremony.

The World Bank is allocating $400 million for the program, and the AFD will provide 100 million euros in cofinancing. The agreement was signed by the World Bank's regional director for the South Caucasus, Sebastian Molineus, the director of the AFD's South Caucasus office, Raphael Jozan and Georgian Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili.

The program will help carry out transformative reforms in education, healthcare and social security, which will help Georgia on its path into the European Union, Molineus said at the press conference on the signing.

The program, among other things, will aim to ensure equal access to quality education and targeted social benefits, and increase the efficiency of healthcare.

The World Bank said in a recent report that the human capital development index in Georgia is significantly lower than the European average and the current program is intended to eliminate this gap.