The average cost of cooking one standard Imeretian khachapuri in April 2019 was 3.47 GEL, and the Index lost 1.3% compared to the previous month (March 2019). Such a decrease was in line with an expected seasonal declining trend, which is largely driven by a springtime adjustment to the price of milk and milk products.
BCI in the second quarter of 2019 has improved, reaching 27.0 index points, which is 4.4 index points higher than the previous quarter. The highest growth in BCI was observed in retail trade and manufacturing. In the case of retail trade, this advancement in BCI is mostly due to good past performance, while in manufacturing the driver is positive expectations.
In 2018, FDI in agriculture constituted 15.9 mln. USD. While the total FDI in 2018 was lower than in 2017, FDI in agriculture has significantly increased (by 28.2%). The highest FDI in agriculture was observed in the second quarter of 2018, while there was divestment (negative FDI) in the first quarter of 2018. The divestment was quite small and was followed by a significant increase in other quarters.
In April 2019, Georgian power plants generated 966 mln. kWh of electricity. This represents a 9% decrease in total generation, compared to the previous year (in 2018, total generation in April was 1,064 mln. kWh). The decrease in generation on a yearly basis comes from the decrease in hydro and wind power generation (-21% and -27%), more than offsetting the increase in thermal power generation (+348%).
In March 2019, the national average cost of cooking one standard Imeretian khachapuri fell to 3.51 GEL, which is 0.8% lower month-over-month (since February 2019), however it is also 1.1% lower year-over-year (in comparison to March 2018). The main contributors to the MoM deflation within the Khachapuri Index were cheese down by 1.9%, milk by 0.8%, and butter by 1.3%.