In February 2018, the Khachapuri Index continued its downward trend and dropped to 3.67 GEL. This is 1.2% lower compared to the previous month (January 2018) and 0.3% higher compared to February 2017 (y/y). The main contributors to y/y Khachapuri Index inflation were butter (4.1%), milk (1.7%), and cheese (0.7%), while the price of eggs and wheat dropped (-3.3% and -2.5%, respectively).

The average cost of cooking one standard Imeretian khachapuri in the second month of 2018 dropped to 3.67 GEL, which is 1.2% lower month-on-month (compared to January 2018), and only 0.3% higher year-on-year (compared to February 2017).

In February 2018, Georgian power plants generated 934 mln. KWh of electricity. This corresponds to a 15% increase in total generation, compared to the previous year (in 2017, total generation in January was 809.2 mln. kWh). The increase in generation on a yearly basis comes from an increase in wind and hydro power generation.

Geostat has published its rapid estimate of real GDP growth for the fourth quarter of 2017. Estimated growth stands at 4.7%, which is only 0.1% higher than the value forecasted in the last update of our model.

Among the pleasant surprises early this year, were the figures for Georgia’s economic growth in 2017. According to GeoStat estimates, Georgia’s real GDP grew by 4.8% year over year (YoY) in 2017. This result moderately surpassed the ADB, EBRD, IMF, and World Bank’s last growth projections of 4.2%, 3.9% 4.0%, and 3.5% growth, respectively. NBG's 4.5% growth projection also slightly underestimated Georgia’s economic growth in 2017. The real winner in this race was ISET-PI’s annual GDP growth forecast.