In the last two weeks of November, ISET’s Retail Food Price Index showed a significant, 10.8% y/y increase (compared to November 2016). On a monthly basis (compared to October 2017), food prices in Tbilisi’s major supermarkets increased slightly by 0.9%. We recorded the biggest bi-weekly price increases for eggplant (41.2%), cucumbers (20.5%), and onions (16.3%).

On November 22, ISET started a policy seminar series provided by the second-year students of ISET’s MA program. The first presentation was delivered by Tamari Tetvadze & Gunash Kamzaevi, under the supervision of Eric Livny, president of ISET and ISET-PI, and Giorgi Mzhavanadze, Senior Researcher at the Macroeconomic Policy Research Center(MPRC) of ISET-PI.

In September 2017, the average cost of cooking one standard Imeretian khachapuri varied across Georgian cities, from 3.33 GEL (the minimum observed in Tbilisi), to 3.85 GEL (the maximum observed in Telavi). The average price was 3.63 GEL, which is 5.5% higher compared to the previous month (August 2017), and 6% higher compared to September of last year.

In the first half of October, food prices in Tbilisi’s major supermarkets increased by 10.8% compared to October 2017. On a monthly basis (that is, compared to September 2017), ISET’s Retail Food Price Index increased slightly by 1.7%. On a biweekly basis, most of the prices increased, leading to a higher Retail FPI.

Based at the International School of Economics at Tbilisi State University (ISET), the ISET Policy Institute (ISET-PI) is one of the first university-based think tanks in the South Caucasus. ISET-PI complements the educational mission of ISET by delivering training, conducting research and analysis, expressing views on policy, and providing a professional platform for policy discussions and debates.