The cost of cooking one standard Imeretian khachapuri in October 2017 varied from 3.04 GEL to 4.18 GEL. The average price was 3.64 GEL, which is just slightly (0.1 %) lower than the previous month (September 2017). In annual terms (compared to October 2016), the Khachapuri Index showed quite a significant increase of 7.2%.

In the first half of November, ISET’s Retail Food Price Index increased by 9.2% y/y (compared to November 2016). On a monthly basis (compared to October 2017), retail food prices slightly increased, by 1.2%. The largest bi-weekly price changes were recorded for fruits and vegetables.

On Friday, November 10, the National Bank of Georgia held a meeting with second-year students of ISET’s MA Programme. During the meeting, the students were introduced to the structure of the National Bank, its main objectives, and responsibilities.

On November 9, Daniel Levy, a professor of economics at Bar Ilan University, Emory University and a member of ISET’s International Faculty Committee, presented his paper ‘The real thing’: nominal price rigidity of the nickel Coke, 1886-1959“ (co-authored by his colleague Andrew Young) to ISET professors, students, and researchers.

For several consecutive years, we have been observing a seasonal spike in Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) coinciding in time with young wine festivals (rtveli) and post-harvest euphoria in rural Georgia. Not this year. In September 2017, CCI lost 2.6 points, going down from -16.4 to -19. Both CCI components, the present situation, and expectations indices declined, by 3.4 and 1.9 points, respectively.