For lack of a quorum, the Georgian parliament failed on 15 August to endorse the budget sequester proposed by the government in response to demands made in early July by a visiting International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation. The fund had made disbursement of the third and final installment of a Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility loan contingent on sweeping budget cuts, passage of a new Tax Code, and the abolition of cuts in electricity tariffs. Minister of State Avtandil Djorbenadze, who came to parliament to brief deputies on the planned budget cuts, blamed speaker Nino Burdjanadze for the legislature\'s failure to ensure the government met the IMF deadline of mid-August. Burdjanadze told deputies on 15 August that the IMF representative in Tbilisi has granted the parliament several days\' grace to approve the budget cuts. (Caucasus Press)