On January 29, the first stage of the two-year cooperation project of the RA Ministry of Finance with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the field of macroeconomic policy started at the RA Ministry of Finance. The objective of the project is to develop and introduce a toolkit for assessing the versatile impact of fiscal policy on the economy which is on the reform agenda of the RA Government. This measure is enshrined in the RA Government's 2017-2022 Program and is one of the priorities of the Government of the Republic of Armenia.
At the first stage of the project, the customized training on Macro-econometric Forecasting and Analysis was organized held by Felipe Zanna, Senior Economist at the IMF Capacity Development Institute and Martin Fukac, New Zealand Treasury Quantitative Modeling Expert. The objective of the course is to develop the macroeconomic forecasts and analysis capacities at the Ministry of Finance based on mathematical models. The specialists of Macroeconomic Policy Department of the Staff of the RA Ministry of Finance take part in the training. According to Edward Hakobyan, Deputy Head of the Macroeconomic Policy Department, the project is one of the priorities of the reform agenda of the RA Ministry of Finance and the RA Government.
IMF economist Felipe Zanna emphasized that the IMF attaches importance to the provision of advice and assistance in terms of financial policy and capacity building. “We hope that this training will provide a new analytical toolkit for fiscal policy forecasts and risk assessment that will enable to develop and implement a more effective policy,” - he said.
Along with the training, discussions on the selection of a fiscal policy model through the study of international experience will be launched with the staff of the Macroeconomic Policy Department.
The trainings, workshops and discussions will be of continuous nature, and the end result will be the introduction of a model-based system of fiscal policy analysis at the RA Ministry of Finance, which will improve the macroeconomic outlook, fiscal policy impacts on the economy, fiscal and economic risk analysis systems.
