In August 2017, Georgian power plants generated 1,035 mln. kWh of electricity. This corresponds to an 8% increase in total generation in comparison with the previous year (in 2016, total generation in August was 957 mln. kWh). Generation decreased by 17% with respect to July 2017 (in July 2017 total generation was 1,247 mln. kWh).

Georgian Consumer Confidence (CCI) continued to improve in August 2017, gaining almost 5 index points over the previous month (July 2017) and more than 12 points over August 2016. Ignoring the rather wild pre- and post-election swings in the index, the CCI appears to be on a steady upward trend since bottoming out in fall 2015. In August, the CCI climbed to -16.5 points, which is almost 25 index points above its value in September 2015.

Geostat has recently released its rapid estimate of economic growth for the second quarter of 2017, which now stands at 4%. As a result, estimated real GDP growth for the first half of 2017 reached 4.5%. The ISET-PI real GDP growth forecast for the third quarter of 2017 was revised downward to 5.3%.

On 24-25 August 2017, the International School of Economics at Tbilisi State University (ISET) with the support of the Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance, the Tbilisi State University, and the Italian Embassy in Tbilisi (Georgia) are organizing a Workshop on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The objective is to bring together researchers active in the field and to create an opportunity to generate discussion and interaction between local academics and policymakers and international researchers.

The Georgian Business Confidence Index (BCI)* has decreased slightly, reaching 27.0 index points, which is a -2.0 index point loss over the previous quarter. The third-quarter drop in the BCI was mostly driven by the notable decline of the Expectations Index, which judging from the previous quarter's findings, may be explained by private sector realignment with reality rather than by worsened economic conditions.