For the fourth quarter of 2023, business confidence in Georgia increased (by 2.4 index points) and reached 18.1. The highest increase in business confidence is observed in the trade (+21.7) sector. The positive change in BCI for Q4 2023 was driven by improved past performance as well as more optimistic expectations.

The Law of Georgia on Water Resource Management (the Law), passed by the Parliament in its third reading on June 30, 2023, outlines the principles of basin management according to which the country will be divided into seven river basins, and corresponding basin management plans will be created.

Geostat has released its rapid estimate of real GDP growth for August 2023. The estimated growth stands at 5.8%, while the average real GDP growth for January- August 2023 reached 7%.

Global economic growth is anticipated to decrease from 3.5 percent in 2022 to 3.0 percent in both 2023 and 2024. In comparison to the April 2023 World Economic Outlook (WEO) projections, there has been a modest 0.2 percentage point improvement in the growth forecast for 2023, while the 2024 projection remains unchanged.

October 19-20 witnessed the largest and most high-profile event of ISET’s year: the international conference on gender economics entitled ‘Gender Equality and Women’s Economic Empowerment in Time of Crisis’. The two-day event, hosted by ISET and the FREE Network (the Forum for Research on Eastern Europe and Emerging Economies), attracted academics from 15 countries, including Australia, India, the USA, the countries of the South Caucasus, Eastern and Western Europe.