On February 19, Sandro Shelegia, an Associate Professor of Pompeu Fabra University, presented to the ISET community a study by Joshua Sherman and himself entitled “Bargaining at Retail Stores: Evidence from Vienna”.

In January 2018, the average price of cooking one Imeretian khachapuri stood at 3.71 GEL. Compared to the previous year (January 2017), the Khachapuri Index gained 1.3 %. While going up in yearly terms, the Index actually dropped 2.9% compared to the previous month (December 2017).

Thanks to a significant increase in the private sector expectations, BCI in the first quarter of 2018 has improved yet again (for the 2nd consecutive quarter), reaching 31.4 index points, which is a 3.2 index point gain over the previous quarter. Almost 60% of participating business executives expect their business will improve over the next three months.

On Thursday, February 15, ISET hosted Dr. Vytautas Kuokštis, an Associate Professor at Vilnius University and the Institute of International Relations and Political Science. Dr. Kuokštis gave a presentation entitled “The Political Economy of Internal Adjustment in the Baltics in 2008-10 in the Light of Models of Currency Crises”.

Interest in bank profitability is increasing every year. Google search data for Georgia shows that in 2017, there were 4,700 pieces (articles, blogs, comments, and other documents) found for “Banks’ Profit” while the same indicator in 2016 amounted to merely 2,990 pieces. In 2015, it was even smaller – 2,160 pieces. This growing interest has its own objective reason, which is simple: In 2017, compared to the previous year, profits for commercial banks increased dramatically by 190 mln. GEL (if you like percentages, it is 28%), and amounted to 869 mln. GEL.