This quarterly report provides an analysis of economic trends, as well as denoting the challenges and opportunities (in local, regional, and global contexts) in the selected value chains within six sectors to improve evidence-based decision-making by providing quality information and analytics. These specific sectors are tourism, creative industries, light manufacturing, shared intellectual services, waste management, and recycling, along with cross-cutting sectors. The analysis tracks trends from 2014 to the third quarter of 2020.

In March 2021, Georgian power plants generated 661 mln. kWh of electricity. This represents a 24% decrease in total generation, compared to the previous year (March 2020, the total generation was 867 mln. kWh). The decrease in generation on a yearly basis comes from the decrease of 33% in hydropower generation, however, the generation of thermal and wind power have increased by 16% and 0.9%, respectively.

For the second quarter of 2021, BCI decreased by 1.7 index points and reached 1.7 after a significant increase in the previous quarter. The highest decline in business confidence is observed in retail trade, followed by the agriculture and construction sectors. The negative change in BCI for Q2 2021 is driven by pessimistic future expectations.

The Tbilisi Residential Sales Price Index (SPI) showed no significant fluctuations from the beginning of 2020; varying between 113 and 114 index points (the index equals 100 in the base period, January 2019).

Quality policymaking benefits from a process that is predictable, transparent, participatory, and accountable. This type of process helps make decisions that are legitimate, justified, effective, and proportionate. It is important to note immediately that regulation is only one possible option available for governmental intervention in society and the economy (see Box 1 for a definition of regulation).