On December 5, 2017, a Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between the International School of Economics at Tbilisi State University (ISET) and Mgaloblishvili Kipiani Dzidziguri (MKD). This cooperation comprises implementing educational programs, organizing workshops, lectures, and other similar events as well as promoting students’ internships and employment prospects.

Yasya Babych of the ISET Policy Institute was a guest speaker at an annual think-tank conference in Kyiv, Ukraine organized by the International Renaissance Foundation and the Embassy of Sweden. She shared the experience of ISET-PI as the first university-based economic policy think tank in the South Caucasus.

On November 27, ISET hosted Francois Painchaud, the Resident Representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Georgia. Mr. Painchaud presented the 2017 October Regional Economic Outlook for the Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA) region, covering the global and regional environment, outlook and policy actions, and policies to help maintain macroeconomic stability and how to secure higher and more inclusive growth.

In the last two weeks of November, ISET’s Retail Food Price Index showed a significant, 10.8% y/y increase (compared to November 2016). On a monthly basis (compared to October 2017), food prices in Tbilisi’s major supermarkets increased slightly by 0.9%. We recorded the biggest bi-weekly price increases for eggplant (41.2%), cucumbers (20.5%), and onions (16.3%).

On November 21, around 30 ISET students visited the State Audit Office for educational purposes. Two state auditors (one of whom was a graduate of ISET) gave a series of lectures to the visitors, which was initially intended to be conducted in English, but eventually done in Georgian due to the absence of international students.