Public Debt, Investment, and Growth: The DIG and DIGNAR Models (DIGx)
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- Public Debt, Investment, and Growth: The DIG and DIGNAR Models (DIGx)
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Bibliographic details
- Published: July 17, 2025
Upcoming offerings
| Start date | End date | Location | Delivery Method | Session No. | Primary & (Interpretation) language | Apply |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 1, 2026 | April 15, 2027 | Course conducted online | Online Training | OL 26.129 | English | Apply online by April 1, 2027 |
Course overview and purpose
- Explains how to analyze the relation between public investment, growth, and public debt dynamics using two dynamic structural models: the Debt, Investment, and Growth (DIG) model and the Debt, Investment, Growth and Natural Resources (DIGNAR) model.
- Presents the key pieces of these models: the investment-growth nexus, the fiscal adjustment, and the private sector response, and how these pieces interact.
- Elaborates on factors shaping model outcomes, including:
- the type of financing,
- the rate of return of public capital,
- the efficiency of public investment,
- the capacity of governments to mobilize revenues.
- Illustrates applications of the DIG and DIGNAR models in policy analysis, including public investment surges, fiscal consolidations, cash transfers to poor households, the mix of public current and capital expenditures, the efficiency of public spending and tax administration, and the collapse of commodity prices.
Track record and applications
- The DIG and DIGNAR models have complemented debt sustainability analyses done by the IMF and the World Bank.
- They have been applied in over 65 country applications in the context of Fund-supported programs and surveillance work.
- These applications have helped inform policy analysis across multiple areas noted above.
Target audience and qualifications
- Target Audience:
- All government officials are welcome to register.
- Particularly useful for officials from ministries of finance, debt agencies, central banks, and other government agencies responsible for providing advice or implementing macroeconomic and debt policies.
- Qualifications:
- Some knowledge of economics is helpful.
- Basic Microsoft Excel skills are essential.
Course objectives
Upon completion of this course, participants should be able to:
- Analize the key elements of the DIG and the DIGNAR models.
- Analyze public investment scale-ups.
- Explain how the effects of public investment surges depend on policy responses, the type of financing, and structural factors.
- Interpret scenario analyses using the DIG and DIGNAR models, as reflected in IMF documents.