Recently, Geostat released the preliminary estimate of real GDP growth for the second quarter (April-June) of 2018, which now stands at 6.0%. This is only 0.1 percentage points above the recent ISET-PI forecast. As a result, real GDP growth for the first seven months of 2018 reached 5.5%.

On September 18, the Energy and Environment Center of the ISET Policy Institute participated in a Public-Private Dialogue (PPD) on a draft law regarding water resource management. The Business and Economics Center (BEC) organized the PPD with the Environment and Natural Resource Committee at the Parliament of Georgia with the involvement of major stakeholders of the water sector.

Georgia’s real GDP growth constituted a strong 5.5% year over year (YoY) in the second quarter (Q2) of 2018, according to the Geostat figures. Recently this year, IMF and World Bank upped their forecast of economic growth for Georgia from 4.2% to 4.5%. In August, the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) has also revised its forecast for 2018 from 4.8% to 5.5%. Meanwhile, ISET-PI expects annual growth in 2018 to be 6.3% YoY.

From September 2018 to November 2018, APRC conducted a B2B market study for a private party. The aim of the study was to determine the potential size- and geography of the demand for frozen bakery and pastry products from hotels and chain shops in Georgia.

At the start of a new academic year, ISET has made a quick return to participating in international academic events. Between September 6 and 8, Professor Norberto Pignatti presented his research on the links between risk attitudes and labor market outcomes (with particular regards to whether individuals end up working informally or not) in the Georgian labor market at the 15th European Association for Comparative Economic Studies Conference, in Warsaw.