Iranian proxy groups' recent rocket attack on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and rallies against the U.S. military presence in Iraq have sparked fears of renewed unrest in the region. Despite efforts…
The FINANCIAL -- Forest fires pose a threat to human life and property. As we discussed in one of the previous ISET Economist blogs, most countries throughout the world, Georgia included, suffered from an unusually high number of forest fires during the…
The FINANCIAL -- The AGRIndex increased with moderate +1.4% in October 2017 compared to the September 2017 and the biggest share of this increase came from the gain in VEGETABLE (+11.2%) prices. DAIRY (+2.7%) products and FRUIT (+0.1%) became also expensive in…
The FINANCIAL -- For several consecutive years, we have been observing a seasonal spike in Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) coinciding in time with young wine festivals (rtveli) and post-harvest euphoria in rural Georgia. Not this year. In September 2017, CCI lost 2.6…
The FINANCIAL -- The average cost of cooking one standard portion of Imeretian khachapuri increased up to 3.63 GEL in September 2017. This is 5.4% higher m/m (compared to August 2017), and 6% higher y/y (compared to September 2016). …
The FINANCIAL -- If you are big city dweller but have sometimes caught yourself daydreaming about living in a peaceful and picturesque town or village, you’re not alone. Recent studies suggest that more millennials than ever from the developed world are saying…
The FINANCIAL -- In September 2017 DAIRY prices increased by 9.9% compared to August 2017 and this was the biggest month-to-month increase in the last 12 months, while compared to September 2016 the price increase was 9.3%.…
The FINANCIAL -- In August 2017, Georgian power plants generated 1,035 mln. kWh of electricity. This corresponds to an 8% increase in total generation in comparison with the previous year (in 2016, total generation in August was 957 mln. kWh), mainly due…
The FINANCIAL -- 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…
The FINANCIAL -- Georgian Consumer Confidence (CCI) continued to improve in August 2017, gaining almost 5 index points over the previous month (July 2017) and more than 12 points over August 2016.…