BCI in the second quarter of 2018 has improved, reaching 39.6 index points, which is an 8.3 index point gain over the previous quarter. The improvement in Business Confidence is in line with the overall positive country performance (Geostat estimated 5.2% GDP growth in Q1 2018). The BCI increase is based on very high expectations and profitable past performance in almost all business sectors. Compared to other sectors, manufacturing assessed their past performance and expectations the most positively. In contrast, the agriculture sector is the most pessimistic, reflecting a low season in production.

The Khachapuri Index is one of the most popular Indexes in Georgia. ISET uses the Khachapuri Index as a simple tool that tracks inflation. The creation of the Khachapuri Index was inspired by the Big Mac Index, made and used by the Economist. ISET’s Khachapuri index uses a basket for calculating inflation that includes only those ingredients that are needed to cook one Imeretian khachapuri – flour, cheese, yeast, milk, eggs, and butter.

In April 2018, Georgian power plants generated 1,064 mln. KWh of electricity. This represents a 30% increase in total generation, compared to the previous year (in 2017, total generation in April was 817.2 mln. kWh). The increase in generation on a yearly basis mainly comes from an increase in hydro power generation.

The GEO real property market grew by 0.1% (QoQ) in Q1 2018, in comparison with Q4 2017. The annual increase was more pronounced at 27.2% (YoY), in comparison with Q1 2017. TBS, with a 41.6% share in total sales in Q1 2018, dominated the GEO real property market.

In April 2018, the average cost of cooking one standard Imeretian khachapuri declined to 3.29 GEL, which is 7.4% lower month-on-month (that is, compared to March 2018), and 1.0% lower year-on-year (compared to April 2017).