Macroeconomic Diagnostics (MDS)

Source details

Officials from central banks and ministries of finance or economy who are directly involved in diagnosing the state of the macroeconomy and making projections.

Expected to have an advanced degree in economics or equivalent experience.
Expected to have good quantitative skills.
Expected proficiency in the use of Microsoft Excel.
Strong recommendation: completion of the online Financial Programming and Policies, Part 1: Macroeconomic Accounts and Analysis (FPP.1 x) or the online Macroeconomic Diagnostics (MDSx) course.

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;
- the medium-term outlook, especially the sustainability of public and external debt.
Emphasizes practical tools for day-to-day macroeconomic analysis.
Relies on case studies relevant to the region where the course is given to illustrate application of tools and contribution to the policymaking process.

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 develop policies to address them.