Retail food prices in Tbilisi supermarkets increased by 1.4% m/m (that is, compared to the middle of February) and 3.8% y/y (that is, compared to March of 2016). On a biweekly basis, the biggest price increases happened for eggplants, onions, and rice (price increased by 34.3%, 21.7%, and 19.2%, respectively).
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that cigarettes are bad for human health. Yet, whenever the government tries to regulate the consumption of cigarettes by increasing their price, it gets a very mixed reaction from the public. Some people (mostly non-smokers) welcome these policies, while others accuse the government of being greedy and proclaim the policies ineffective. Who is right and who is wrong in this debate? Let’s take a closer look at the facts.
On February 20, ISET students delivered yet another policy seminar. The seminar was opened by Eric Livny, the president of ISET, who delivered an inspirational speech regarding the jobs of the future. He posed the question, “In this rapidly changing world, what do we need to teach schoolchildren today so that their skills and knowledge are still relevant ten or twenty years from now?”.
APRC is working on a research to inform the World Bank Group (WBG) on sectoral priorities in Georgia’s agriculture.
By the end of January, food prices in Tbilisi’s major supermarkets had increased by 7.2% compared to December 2016. Although prices increased m/m, there was a slight decrease in prices y/y. Food prices declined by 5.5% compared to January 2016.