The COVID-19 pandemic and consequent stringent lockdown measures have had a drastic toll on the Georgian economy. The economic downturn has significantly affected the resilience of local Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), whose sales decreased by almost 13% (YoY) in the first two quarters of 2020. These negative impacts of the economic contraction have been particularly severe for Women-led Small and Medium Enterprises (WSMEs).

Independent entrepreneurship is one of the main drivers of economic development and often manifests itself in the form of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). These start-ups trigger innovation, boost productivity, and bring about structural change.

Thanks to a significant increase in the private sector expectations, BCI in the first quarter of 2018 has improved yet again (for the 2nd consecutive quarter), reaching 31.4 index points, which is a 3.2 index point gain over the previous quarter. Almost 60% of participating business executives expect their business will improve over the next three months.

Evaluating the impact of the state support programs on the firm-level outcomes in Georgia. The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of the state support program of SMEs on the firm-level outcomes in Georgia. The Georgian government’s SME financing procedure offers just such a unique opportunity for a quasi-natural experiment, which allows the credible use of local/nonparametric regression discontinuity methodology (RDD).

The Georgian Business Confidence Index (BCI) continues to decline, albeit at a slower pace. The first-quarter decrease in the Index was mostly driven by a significant decline in past performance.