Technical Assistance Office for the LAO PDR and Myanmar

Training Program: "Lao: Workshop on Financial Programming and Policies"

• Date: May 5–16, 2014
• Venue: Vang Vieng, Lao PDR
• List of Presentations
  Overview |  Introduction to Thailand Case |  Introduction to the Real Sector Accounts in the Thailand FPP Framework |  Introduction to Macroeconomics I Financial Programming and Policies |  Monetary Policy Frameworks |  Monetary Statistics |  Introduction to the Fiscal Sector Accounts in the Thailand FPP Framework |  Introduction to Macroeconomics II Financial Programming and Policies |  Creation of Money |  Introduction to the External Sector Accounts in the Thailand FPP Framework |  Introduction to Macroeconomics III |  Monetary Transmission Mechanism |  Introduction to the Monetary Sector Accounts in the Thailand FPP Framework | 

Training Program: "Introduction to Applied Macroeconomics

• Date: February 17-21, 2014
• Venue: Vientiane, Lao PDR
• List of Presentations
  Introduction to the Real Sector |  Introduction to Sources of Growth |  Natural Resource Wealth & Economic Development |  Analyzing the Fiscal Sector |  Analyzing the External Sector |  Analyzing the Monetary Sector |  Monetary Statistics & Money Supply |  Macroeconomics Frameworks & Financial Progarmming | 

Training Program: "Introduction to Financial Programming"

• Date: December 16-20, 2013
• Venue: Yangon, Myanmar
• List of Presentations
  Introduction (In Myanmar) |  Analyzing the Real Sector (In Myanmar) |  Analyzing the Fiscal Sector (In Myanmar) |  Analyzing the External Sector (In Myanmar) |  Analyzing the Monetary Sector (In Myanmar) |  Monetary Statistics & Money Supply (In Myanmar) |  Macroeconomics Frameworks & Financial Progarmming (In Myanmar) | 

This six-week course provides an introduction to financial programming, presenting the principal features of the accounts of the four main sectors that comprise the macroeconomy (real, fiscal, external, and monetary) and their interrelations. The course may be taken as a stand-alone introduction to the macroeconomic accounts, and will also serve as a prerequisite for eligible officials who apply to the two-week residential FPP course, where the focus shifts to policy issues and the design of a financial program.

This five-week course aims to provide a comprehensive overview of debt sustainability analysis and a medium-term debt management strategy framework as performed by the IMF and the World Bank.

The course will: (i) introduce the main principles of debt sustainability; (ii) cover recently updated DSA frameworks-both for advanced and emerging markets and for low-income countries-with an emphasis on country data; (iii) present a medium-term debt management strategy (MTDS) framework; and (iv) illustrate debt sustainability analysis under uncertainty.

This two-week course builds on an extensive cross-country analysis, which is reported in the recently published IMF book on Energy Subsidy Reform: Lessons and Implications,Ó to make recommendations on how to best implement reforms aimed at reducing state subsidies on energy.

In the first part of the course, economists from the IMF will introduce the definition and measurement of subsidies, and then describe the economic, social, and environmental implications of subsidies. The second part of the course has two principal purposes: first, to review what works best in energy subsidy reform, in light of country experiences globally; and second, to illustrate successes and failures in particular country contexts by summarizing some case studies.

The IMF plans to offer its online courses both as courses exclusively for government officials, and as courses open to the general public (MOOCs). Government officials are welcome to take advantage of either option.

• Registration is now open to the general public for all three course MOOCs at https://www.edx.org/school/imfx. The FPP.1x course begins on August 5, 2015. The ESRx course will begin on September 2, 2015 and DSAx course will begin October 7, 2015.

Questions?

Please send any inquiries to ICDinfo@imf.org.

S. M. Kumar joined TAOLAM in July 2013. Previously, he was a senior civil servant in the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, including over 30 yearsÕ experience in the area of Public Financial Management (PFM).

His earlier assignments abroad included a three-year stint with the World Bank as the PFM Advisor in the Ministry of Finance, Liberia, a post-conflict country, where he assisted in setting up PFM systems that had been destroyed in the fifteen-year civil war. Kumar also worked in Ethiopia implementing the PFM component of a large World Bank funded program, the Protection of Basic Services.

Ian NieldÕs most recent position prior to joining TAOLAM in October 2013 was as a Special Adviser at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Ð a role which gave him the flexibility to work across all the functions of the central bank. His core concern could broadly be described as financial stability, which he explored through data set extensions and improvements, and through studies of liquidity and of the payment and settlement system. In his previous professional life he has been a research scientist, university lecturer, fund manager, and stock broker.

Ian Nield studied at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand and at Cranfield University in England. He read Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics at Waikato where he was awarded an MSc (Hons) degree. At Cranfield he read Physics for his PhD. Ian is married with four children and has a wide range of interests outside the office.

Nuchjaree Santkhajornkiat joined TAOLAM as Office Manager in November 2014. She administers office operations and handles the office budget. Previously, she worked as a Senior Analyst in the Corporate Communications Department at the Bank of Thailand. Other past experience includes the position of Secretarial Assistant in the IMF Resident Representative Office in Thailand, now closed.

Nuchjaree holds a Bachelors in Business Administration from Bangkok University, Thailand.

Panithan Phongphaew administers the IMF macroeconomics TA and training program for the Bangkok TA Office. Prior to joining TAOLAM in October 2014, he worked in the Payment and Bond Department at the Bank of Thailand. Other previous experience includes Senior Human Resources Development Officer at Deloitte Thailand, following participation in their Training and Development Program, and Senior Business Development Officer at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Panithan has a MSC. in Management of Technology from Thammasat University and a B.A. in Marketing from Assumption University in Thailand.

Min Rayayoy joined the Bangkok TA Office as Driver in September 2012, following his retirement from the Bank of Thailand (BOT). He has more than 30 years of driving experience including as an official driver for BOT senior management and, earlier, at the Ministry of Finance of Thailand.