According to a nationally representative sample of 331 Georgians interviewed in early October 2018, the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) dropped by 2.8 index points, from -15.2 in September to -18 in October. A similar pattern was observed in both sub-indices: the Present Situation Index went down by 5.3 (from -17.3 to -22.6), and the Expectations Index by 0.2 index points (from -13.1 to -13.4) compared to September.

It is that time of year again when our world starts revolving around the World Bank’s Doing Business publication. It is a time when we once more have the chance to brag about how easy it is to start a business in Georgia, about how small the tax burden on businesses is, and about how good we are at enforcing contracts.

The average cost of cooking one standard Imeretian khachapuri in October 2018 was 3.59 GEL, which is 1.1% higher month-on-month (compared to the previous month), and 1.2% lower year-on-year (compared to the same month of last year).

On November 15th, the Deputy Head of the Energy and Environment Policy Research Center, Levan Pavlenishvili, participated in the panel of the “Energy Politics in the South Caucasus: Experiences, Visions, and Challenges” conference.

On Thursday, November 15, the Agricultural Policy Research Center (APRC) presented the results of its “Study on Private Service Providers in Organic Hazelnut Value Chain in Georgia” to stakeholders. The event was organized by HEKS-EPER South Caucasus, the ISET Policy Institute (ISET-PI), and PAKKA AG, a Swiss holding.