With a bit of push and pull from the National Bank of Georgia, ISET Policy Institute (ISET-PI) developed its first analytical product in the Georgian language – a regular monthly review of the Georgian economy. The first issue of the report, covering October 2012 (the first post-election month) was presented to the Georgian public and media on December 19, 2012. Prepared by Giorgi Bakradze and a team of ISET-PI research fellows, this report reviews the main macroeconomic trends in Georgia taking account of the broader economic context of the region and the global market dynamics.

The event was opened by Tbilisi State University’s Rector Aleksandre Kvitashvili, and NBG Vice President Archil Mestvirishvili. Both praised the quality of ISET-PI’s work and its commitment to serving as a bridge between the academic and policymaking communities. Giorgi Bakradze introduced the entire team consisting of Nino Doghonadze (ISET Class 2012), Giorgi Machavariani (class 2009), and Givi Melkadze (class 2012) and briefly spoke about the general goals and structure of the report. Doghonadze, Melkadze and Machavariani went on to present the main trends in Georgia’s real, monetary, financial, fiscal, and external sectors of the Georgian Economy in the aftermath of the recent parliamentary elections. ISET Policy Institute will be publishing monthly and quarterly economic reviews on a regular basis in order to inform the public and provide an independent assessment of the main macroeconomic trends in Georgia. These reviews will be both short and dense, providing a large amount of analytical information in a compact and accessible form. Our analysis is based on statistical information provided by the National Bank, the National Statistics Office (GeoStat), and the Ministry of Finance of Georgia. It incorporates ISET-PI’s own analytical products such as the Leading GDP Indicator, Khachapuri Index, and Consumer Confidence Index.