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.
In July 2017, Georgian power plants generated 1,247 mln. kWh of electricity. This corresponds to an 18% increase in total generation compared to July 2016, when total generation of electricity was 1,061 mln. kWh. Generation also increased by 10% compared to June 2017 (1,138 mln. kWh).
We started forecasting the annual growth rate at the start of 2014 (see our January 2014 and February 2014 publications for a note on methodology). Based on January’s data, we expect annual growth in 2017 to be 6.2% in the worst-case or “no growth” scenario, and 6.6% in the best-case or “average long-term growth” scenario. Our “middle-of-the-road” scenario (based on the average growth in the last four quarters) predicts a 6.3% real GDP growth in 2017.