Khachapuri index changes its value in different regions according to seasonal demand and supply peculiarities. The latter is affected by milk production cycles (low in fall and winter, high in spring and summer), Georgia’s religious calendar (e.g. the Great Lent), as well as the ups and downs in tourism.

The Georgian Government’s pride and joy of the previous years has been its high standing in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business index. Investors, policymakers, and economy-watchers around the world have opened editions of magazines like The Economist to see full-page advertisements about why Georgia is ‘different’ among Post-Soviet countries when it comes to doing business.

In August 2015, domestic production in Georgia increased by 2.3% annually – a figure that is expected to retain stability around this year’s overall trend. Consumer price inflation reached its highest value in two years (5.4%). The August 2015 increase in electricity tariffs and the growing number of tourist arrivals put additional upward pressure on consumer price inflation.

In October 2015, the average cost of cooking one standard portion of Imeretian Khachapuri climbed to 3.61GEL, which is 4.5% higher m/m (compared to September 2015), and 7.9% higher y/y (compared to the same month of the previous year, October 2014).

October Retail FPI was pretty stable showing a negligible 0.1% decrease in the 4th week of October compared to the middle of the month. (See the diagram with Retail FPI dynamics on the right).