- August 7, 2019
- Posted by: admin
- Category: Current News
MEFMI is in the process of developing GDP forecasting tools for the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development of Malawi. This technical assistance is expected to be conducted in three (3) phases. The first phase was conducted from 15- 23 July 2019, in Lilongwe, Malawi and was attended by 14 participants from various departments within the Ministry as well officials from National Statistics Office.
This mission introduced key concepts related to GDP forecasting and macroeconomic modelling. Largely, it focused on developing the first version of two (2) forecasting tools. The first one is based on the production approach and will be used to produce Malawi’s near term GDP forecasts in September 2019. The second tool focuses on the expenditure side. Participants appreciated the breadth and depth of the mission and its internalization. This is shown by the mission’s overall ratings of 4.7 out of 5.0 which also suggests that it was well received. Overall discussion and comments from participants were encouraging and are also consistent with this rating.
The date for the second mission is largely dependent on some outstanding data to be collected by Malawi modelling team. However, tentatively it has been agreed to be held during the last quarter of calendar year 2019 or the first quarter of calendar year 2020. The main expected output from the second phase is the finalisation of the tools. This phase will also focus on comparing and evaluating forecasts from both tools.
The mission was delivered by the Mr. Sayed Timuno (MEFMI staff) and Dr. Patrick Ndzinisa (MEFMI accredited fellow from the Central Bank of Eswatini).