FROM THE EDITOR

Jemal Inaishvili

Sunbathed and rested, our readers faced a hard September. “Katrina” and “Rita” hurricanes shook the world. From the US coast their waves reached Georgia, and we are upset not only because this tragedy happened in the country that is friendly to us, but also because it increased the oil price.

It was followed by raising of the rate to 3.75% by the Federal Reserve System. Credit has become more expensive, the production growth has slowed down. According to the IMF’s projection, the nearest future looks very pessimistic. It directly concerns Georgia as well, where the gasoline prices have reached a record level, and the basket of goods has become more expensive. Hence, in this issue we decided to discuss these matters of current importance and, in the light of world economy outlook, talk about the problems of Georgian economy.
Here belong such topics as inflation and the problems of Georgian Economy, the review of the financial and consumer markets, and comments on the subsistence minimum in Georgia.
At the end of this month Georgia will be preoccupied with election campaign fever. It fell to my lot to vote in Batumi. By the line of my activities I am closely connected with this territory, and spent the recent months in Batumi and Ajara. I watched its economy, reconstruction of its infrastructure and tourism, and decided to propose a discussion about the economy of Ajara region, as well as about the current reforms in the communication sphere. We decided to start a discussion since this sector to a large extent determines the progress of Georgian economy on the whole.
We continue the talk about small-scale business accounting, and the issues concerning violations envisaged by the Tax Code. Of late, there was much talk in the parliament’s lobbies concerning the Code. We hail this and believe that by our constructive criticism we shall contribute our share to perfection of this code.
Now the Asian-Pacific region is economically most advanced region in the world. Georgia is practically the first country that in February became a member of the confederation of chambers of commerce of the Asian-Pacific region’s countries (CACCI). The 70th meeting of the CACCI’s committee and the first Asian business forum will be held in Tbilisi on October 27-28. We present information on it and invite the interested businessmen to the forum.
In October Balzerovich will visit Georgia, the man whose reformatory policy stirred up not only Poland but Eastern Europe as well. This is not his first visit to Georgia. His appraisal of the current situation would be interesting. We also present an interview on the reforms with him, published in Polish newspaper.
With the God’s help, there were a lot of outstanding patriots to whom the history of Georgian economics is related. In connection with Niko Nikoladze’s anniversary, we present an article about this outstanding patriot. We also present September business calendar and the scientific rubric containing three articles, and, together with our experts, we continue the polemics on Georgian economy.
I hope I have not overstrained you. Economics is a difficult subject, especially the Georgian one.