The economic slowdown of the closing months of 2014 continued in January 2015, with the growth of real GDP amounting to only 0.5%. ISET‐PI’s GDP forecast is not optimistic either, with GDP growth in the first quarter of 2015 expected to be 0.5% (see GDP Forecast). The 5% economic growth initially forecasted by the government of Georgia, the 5.5% predicted by the ADB and the 4.2% predicted by the EBRD in September 2014 each seem quite out of reach now. In early March, the IMF mission lowered its forecast to 2%.
Consumer sentiment, as measured by the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI), has been decreasing over recent months and the index dropped to a new historical minimum in February. Consumers seem to be concerned about inflation linked to the depreciation of the Georgian lari against the US dollar.