On 29 December 2020, the parliament of Georgia approved the state budget for 2021, which includes allocations of around 18.3 billion GEL. From which the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture (MEPA) will receive 451.6 million (2.5% of the total budget allocation). MEPA will direct 10 mln. GEL towards the Environmental Protection and Agriculture Development Program (2.2% of MEPA’s total budget), with around 389.6 mln. (86.3% of MEPA’s total budget) to be allocated to agricultural development, and approximately 51.9 mln. GEL (11.5%) to be spent on environmental protection.

In February 2021, Georgian power plants generated 692 mln. kWh of electricity. This represents a 19% decrease in total generation, compared to the previous year (February 2020, the total generation was 851 mln. kWh). The decrease in generation on a yearly basis comes from the decrease of 20%, 17% and 13% in hydro, thermal, and wind power generation, respectively.

The COVID-19 outbreak had a devastating effect on the Georgian economy in 2020. Real GDP contracted by 6.1% according to Geostat’s rapid estimates of economic growth. This was the worst performance of real GDP growth in the country in more than two decades.

The Khachapuri Index kept declining in March 2021, with the average cost of cooking one standard Imeretian khachapuri reaching 4.61 GEL. This is 1.7% lower month-on-month (compared to February 2021), and 3.4% higher year-on-year (compared to March 2020).

The real GDP growth rate amounted to -11.5% year-on-year for January 2021. As a result of the update, the growth forecast for Q1 of 2021 remained unchanged, at -5.4%. ISET-PI’s second forecast for Q2 of 2021 puts GDP growth at a positive 11%.