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.

On September 13, ISET hosted Farhad Taghizaden-Sesary, Professor of Economics at Waseda University, Tokyo, and Senior Assistant to the Dean of Asian Development Bank Institute. Dr. Taghizaden-Sesary delivered a lecture entitled Green Energy Finances.

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.

After three consecutive quarters of improvement, BCI in the third quarter of 2018 has worsened, dropping to 35.4 index points, which is a 4.2 index point loss over the previous quarter. The BCI drop is based on lowering expectations and worsening of past performance in many business sectors. Compared to other sectors, manufacturing assessed their past performance and expectations the most pessimistically. In contrast, the agriculture sector is the most positive, reflecting a high season in production.