BCI in the fourth quarter of 2018 has worsened, dropping to 29.9 index points, which is a 5.5 index point loss over the previous quarter. The BCI drop is based on the worsening of past performance and expectations in many business sectors. Compared to other sectors, manufacturing and agriculture assessed their past performance and expectations the most pessimistically. In contrast, the retail trade sector is the most positive.

Recently, Geostat has released its preliminary estimate of real GDP growth for the third quarter of 2018. The Q3 growth rate now stands at 4.0%, which is 3.2% below the ISET-PI’s last forecasted value. As a result, the estimated real GDP growth for the first nine months of 2018 amounted to 4.9%. ISET-PI revised its forecast of real GDP growth for the fourth quarter of 2018 to 3.7% - down from 6.4% in October.

On November 9, ISET hosted the presentation of the South Caucasus Regional Trade Study, which was carried out by the Private Sector Development Research Center (PSDRC) through an SDC-funded project, “Facilitation of Trade in the South Caucasus”, implemented by the UNDP.

Have you ever thought about how Tbilisi would look if the existing old Soviet Union-era multi-story buildings were renovated and equipped with rooftop solar panels? There are several good reasons why this might be happening in the future, and why the government of Georgia might want to encourage this development.

On October 26-27, the APRC attended the second workshop on mainstreaming Agenda 2030 requirements in the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) on Windbreaks Draft Law, organized by REC Caucasus with support from international donors.