IMF | SARTTAC

Target Audience

Mid-level to senior officials in central banks and ministries of finance or economy who are directly involved in diagnosing the state of the macroeconomy and making projections.

Qualifications

Participants are expected to have an advanced degree in economics or equivalent experience, good quantitative skills, and proficiency in the use of Microsoft Excel. It is strongly recommended that applicants have completed the online Financial Programming and Policies, Part 1: Macroeconomic Accounts and Analysis (FPP.1x) or the online Macroeconomic Diagnostics (MDSx) course.

Course Description

This course, presented by the Institute for Capacity Development, is designed to strengthen participants’ ability to comprehensively assess a country’s macroeconomic situation, including the current state of the economy; the stance of fiscal and monetary policy; financial stability; exchange rate misalignments; vulnerabilities in the different sectors; and the medium-term outlook, especially the sustainability of public and external debt.The course emphasizes practical tools for use in day-to-day macroeconomic analysis and relies on case studies relevant to the region where the course is given to illustrate how these tools are applied and how they can contribute to the policymaking process.

Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, participants should be able to:

- Analyze potential output, calculate output gaps, and diagnose the outlook for the economy.
- Assess the stance of current fiscal, monetary, exchange rate, and financial policies.
- Assess macro-financial linkages, including through the analysis of financial sector soundness indicators.
- Assess the medium-term prospects of the economy, especially the sustainability of public and external debt.
- Identify possible external and internal economic risks and vulnerabilities to economic growth, and identify policies to address them.