COMESA Monetary Institute Training Hailed

The COMESA Monetary Institute (CMI) in collaboration with the Centre for Central Banking Studies (CCBS) of the Bank of England conducted a training on ‘Macroeconomic Modeling and Forecasting’ in Kampala, Uganda from 2nd to 13th February, 2015. The training was held based on the decision of the COMESA Committee of Governors of Central Banks during their 20th Meeting which was held in Kinshasa, DR Congo in November 2014 that directed the COMESA Monetary Institute (CMI) to organize the training.

Drawing on theory and on practical applications, the training was structured as follows:

1. 2nd to 6th February 2015, training on Time Series Econometrics.
2. 9th to 13th February 2015, training on panel econometric.

The training was attended by 40 delegates from Central Banks and Ministries of Finance from member states.

The feedback from participants of the training indicates that the training will be particularly useful for member countries to achieve among others the following:

1. Design, formulate and implement economic policy measures based on empirical evidence;
2. Enable member countries to develop their own macroeconomic modelling framework; and
3. Enable member countries to develop specific models such as monetary transmission mechanism, fiscal deficit management etc.

In closing the training, Mr. Ibrahim Zeidy underscored that the training contributes significantly to COMESA Monetary Institute’s continuous effort of imparting knowledge in modeling and forecasting. This, he said, is crucial for making the region zone of macroeconomic stability. He thanked Bank of England for the valuable support and looked forward for continuous assistance to enable CMI to achieve its vision of building sustainable human capacity in the region.