On December 5, ISET hosted Azim Sadikov, IMF Resident Representative in Georgia. Mr. Sadikov presented the 2014 October Regional Economic Outlook.

At the beginning of the presentation, Mr. Sadikov spoke about the current economic situation in the Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA) region. He explained that the main reasons for the economic slowdown in these countries are weaker domestic demand. Moreover, the global environment with almost 30% decline in oil prices and rising regional tensions have been significantly affecting Russia, the key trading and source of investment inflows for most of these countries.

In the next part of the presentation, the IMF Resident Representative in Georgia gave policy recommendations needed for future high, sustained, diversified, and inclusive growth. 

Mr. Sadikov also answered a number of interesting questions from the audience and talked about the depreciation of Georgian Lari. He explained that since Georgia has chosen Floating Exchange Rate, fluctuation is acceptable. On top of that, Mr. Sadikov pointed out that the USD has been appreciating against many other currencies for some time due to the tightening policy implemented by the Federal Reserve System and the recovery of the US economy. Moreover, considering that oil price and general global prices are decreasing it is less likely that the depreciation of the Lari will cause high inflation in the short run.