19
November
2020
Geostat has updated its GDP growth estimate for the third quarter of 2020. The Q3 growth rate stands at -3.8%. As a result, the real GDP growth estimate for the first nine months of 2020 is -5%. As a result of the update, the growth forecast for Q4 of 2020 was revised to -3.3%. ISET-PI’s first forecast for Q1 of 2021 puts GDP growth at -1.4%.
16
November
2020
Until 2014, the population of Tbilisi remained more or less constant, even slightly decreasing at the same rate as the population of the country as a whole. Since 2014, though, there has been a marked migration to the capital as seen in the graph below.
13
November
2020
On November 13, the Agricultural and Rural Policy Research Center (APRC) of the ISET Policy Institute conducted a second stakeholder working meeting under the auspices of a project entitled “Information quality standards for the participants and beneficiaries of the Agricultural Knowledge and Information System (AKIS)”.
09
November
2020
Given the increasing pressure on the city’s environment, action should be taken to provide a healthier and more habitable space. The development of urban parks is therefore one viable option. However, the trend over the last decade has gone in exactly the opposite direction, with green space per capita decreasing dramatically; estimations from Tbilisi City Hall data highlight that per-capita green space decreased from 5.6 to 1.3m2 between 2010-2018 (well below average European standards 10-15m2).
02
November
2020
As the Georgian Lari (GEL) briefly depreciated in September 2020, the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) once again became the subject of criticism for not being able to stabilize the exchange rate even though it had injected 120 million US$ into the economy. At a press conference (2020/09/16), the President of the NBG objected that the aim of the injection of US$ was not to strengthen the GEL since the NBG operated under a floating exchange rate policy. Rather, he went on to explain, the NBG’s constitutional duty was to ensure price stability on the basis of an inflation-targeting framework.
