IMF | SARTTAC

Target Audience

Junior to senior officials with some intermediate fiscal background who are interested in understanding and applying fiscal sustainability analyses and learning how such analyses may relate to a country-specific environment.

Qualifications

Participants are expected to have a degree in economics or equivalent work experience and some familiarity with using spreadsheets.

Course Description

This course, presented by the Institute for Capacity Development, looks at fiscal sustainability as a requirement for macroeconomic stability and sustainable and inclusive long-term growth. It provides a thorough overview of how to assess fiscal sustainability from a policy and tools perspective. The course also discusses long-term fiscal pressures and risks as well as debt management strategies and the early warning indicators used by the IMF. Special attention is given to case studies of fiscal crises and the subsequent fiscal adjustments.

Course Objectives

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

• Describe why fiscal sustainability is central to macroeconomic stability and sustainable growth.
• Apply effective concepts, definitions, and techniques for analyzing fiscal sustainability.
• Identify fiscal vulnerabilities, distinguishing between near-term and long-term risks.
• Analyze crises and fiscal adjustment cases. Differentiate between various debt sustainability analysis (DSA) frameworks.
• Prepare a brief DSA for either a country with access to financial markets or a low-income country