Macroeconomic Diagnostics (MDS)
Target Audience
Mid-to-senior level officials in central banks and ministries of finance or economy who are directly involved in diagnosing the state of the macro-economy and making projections.
Qualifications
Participants should have an advanced degree in economics or equivalent experience, good quantitative skills, and proficiency in the use of Excel. Participants are strongly recommended to complete the online FPP.1x and FFP.2x courses (or the face-to-face FPP) prior to enrolling in this course.
Course Description
This course, presented by the IMF's Institute for Capacity Development, aims at strengthening participants' ability to assess a country's macroeconomic situation, emphasizing practical tools for use in day-to-day macroeconomic analysis. The course covers assessments of: - the current state of the macro economy; - the stance of fiscal and monetary policy; - financial stability; and - the medium-term prospects of the economy, including the sustainability of public and external debt, the possible misalignment of the exchange rate, and vulnerabilities from the different sectors. The course relies on case studies relevant for the region to illustrate the application of these tools, and to show how they can be used as an input in the policymaking process. Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course, participants should be able to:- Analyze potential output and calculate output gaps, identify expenditure composition of growth, measure inflation, assess sources of inflation, calculate Taylor rules, measure cyclically-adjusted and structural fiscal balances, analyze public debt sustainability, calculate and interpret financial sector soundness and risk indicators, analyze the external position, examine external debt sustainability, and evaluate the exchange rate misalignment.- Use different information, which may give conflicting signals, to assess the stance of current fiscal, monetary, and financial policies, and to diagnose the outlook for the economy.- Assess the medium-term prospects of the economy, including the sustainability of public and external debt, and identify impediments to long-term growth.- Discuss the potential external and internal risks/vulnerabilities to the economy, and interpret the implications these risks may have on the economy, and on the policies to deal with those risks.
