By the end of May, ISET’s Retail Food Price Index increased by 5.5% y/y (compared to May 2016); on a monthly basis (compared to April 2017), retail food prices slightly decreased, by 0.4%. The largest bi-weekly price changes were recorded for seasonal food products such as fresh fruit and vegetables. Prices dropped the most for tomatoes (-28%), garlic (-21%), and cucumber (-8.3%).

In May 2017, the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) sustains its upward trend, increasing by 3.6 points compared to April (moving from -25.6 to -21.9). Its first component, the Present Situation Index, rises by 3.4 points (from -32.8 to -29.4), and its second component, the Expectations Index, goes up by 4.2 points (from -18.5 to -14.3).

Retail food prices increased by 3.4% on an annual basis (that is, compared to May 2016), but decreased by 1.2% on a monthly basis (that is, compared to April 2017). The biggest price increase was for cabbage, potatoes, and peaches (76.5%, 30.2%, and 17.5%, respectively).

ISET-PI’s forecast for the second quarter of 2017 was revised upward from 4.4% to 5.9%. Meanwhile, Geostat has updated its GDP growth estimate for the first quarter of 2017. The Q1 growth rate stands at 5%, which is 1.8 percentage points above the forecast.

In April 2017, the average cost of cooking one standard Imeretian khachapuri decreased to 3.32 GEL, which is 2.5% lower month-on-month (m/m, that is, compared to March 2017), but 4.9% higher year-on-year (y/y, compared to April 2016).