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Mid- to senior-level officials who participate in the formulation and implementation of macroeconomic and fiscal policies in their countries.
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Participants should have an advanced degree in economics or equivalent experience, as well as proficiency in the use of spreadsheets.
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This course, presented by the IMF Institute, aims at deepening participants' understanding of fiscal policy issues and their implications for macroeconomic management. It covers the interrelations between fiscal variables and macroeconomic aggregates, and the main aspects of the design and implementation of fiscal policy as an instrument to achieve macroeconomic adjustment, growth, and poverty reduction. The course draws on the Fund's experience in providing fiscal policy advice, on studies undertaken by Fund staff, and on selected research by outside scholars. Country case studies are used to illustrate the challenges faced by the authorities in addressing fiscal policy issues. The course includes:
- Sessions on the accounting, analysis, and forecasting of government operations. This module presents the new fiscal framework (net worth approach) as an analytical tool for assessing the government financial position. It also covers the interrelations between fiscal and other macroeconomic accounts, as well as the design of fiscal adjustment in the context of a financial program aimed at achieving sustainable growth.
- Sessions on policy issues. This module covers macroeconomic aspects of fiscal policy, including issues related to stabilization such as the need to estimate cyclically-adjusted fiscal balances, to assess the role of automatic stabilizers and discretionary actions, and to determine the size and composition of fiscal adjustment. There are also sessions on fiscal sustainability, debt relief and the HIPC initiative, and various structural and institutional fiscal issues, such as growth and poverty reduction, tax reform and administration, expenditure policy and management, civil service reform, privatization, decentralization, and governance.
- Case studies and workshops. This module includes presentations of country case studies related to particular aspects of fiscal policy, such as fiscal adjustment, tax reform, and poverty reduction, and several workshops on the frameworks for fiscal analysis, fiscal sustainability, and debt management.
During the course, participants are expected to work in small groups on a topic of their choice on which they make a presentation at the end of the course. Prior to joining the course, participants are encouraged to identify possible topics and gather relevant information.
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