Description: This course is intended to broaden participants' understanding of the concepts, methods, and challenges of compiling CPIs. It provides an overview of the index number theory and the practical implications of choosing the index number formula at lower and higher levels of aggregation. The course covers the sources and methods for developing/validating weights; and practical applications of the methods used for sampling areas, items, outlets, and varieties. New and emerging data sources as well as new collection technologies are discussed. Frontier issues including how to better measure the digital economy are included. Linkages to the 2025 SNA are highlighted, including the related principles of scope, coverage, and valuation. The course covers the following topics: calculating elementary and upper-level indexes; methods for handling temporarily and permanently missing prices; introducing new outlets, items, and varieties; adjusting prices for quality changes; chaining and linking indexes with updated weighting structures; and meeting data users' needs to ensure relevancy. The course follows the principles and recommendations of the CPI Manual (2020).
Target Audience: Compilers of consumer price indexes (CPIs).
Description: This course is based on the conceptual framework of the System of National Accounts (SNA). It covers advanced methodological and practical issues related to the compilation of the sequence of accounts of the SNA (current accounts, capital accounts, financial account, other changes in volume of assets account, revaluation account, and balance sheets) by institutional sectors. It examines the linkages between institutional sectors as a basis for establishing from-whom-to-whom accounts. The course provides participants with the necessary skills to compile-or further enhance-their country's institutional sector accounts and balance sheets. The lectures provide a thorough review of the methodological framework, concepts, and definitions relating to sectoral institutional sector accounts and balance sheets, examine potential data sources for the compilation of annual and quarterly accounts, and illustrate possible compilation techniques and procedures. The course also provides a forum for participants to share country practices and experiences relating to the compilation of sectoral institutional accounts and balance sheets.
Target Audience: Compilers of national accounts, including financial accounts statistics, and accounts on a from-whom-to-whom basis, who are employed by national statistical agencies and central banks.
Description: This course explores both the conceptual and practical aspects of compiling monetary statistics focusing on other financial corporations (OFCs) as set out in the 2016 Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual and Compilation Guide (MFSMCG). The primary objective of this course is to foster a deeper understanding of the OFCs (insurance corporations, pension funds, non-MMF investment funds, etc.), their pivotal role in financial systems, and their typical balance sheet structures. The course discusses how OFCs' data can be harnessed to compile the most comprehensive set of monetary statistics to understand liquidity and financing extended to the nonfinancial sectors and nonresidents by the financial corporations sector. Additionally, the course delves into various aspects of financial statistics, including the application of MFS in constructing the balance sheet approach (BSA) matrix and in the IMF's financial programming framework. The course integrates discussions on cutting-edge issues related to MFS, including Fintech, digital money and climate finance. Through a combination of lectures and case studies, the course equips participants with practical skills for compiling monetary statistics for the OFCs subsector using standardized report forms (SRFs) and deriving analytical surveys from SRFs, including the OFCs Survey (OFCS) and the financial corporations survey (FCS). A strong emphasis is also placed on peer learning through the exchange of country experiences among participants.
Target Audience: Central bank officials and officials from regulatory agencies responsible for compiling monetary statistics.
Description: This course aims to provide a deep understanding of the concepts, data sources and compilation techniques for BOP and IIP statistics. It focusses on their application in addressing complex methodological issues in accordance with the recently updated Integrated Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual, Seventh Edition (BPM7). The intermediate level of the course presupposes participants' familiarity with the basic concepts. The course consists of a series of lectures and workshops analyzing country cases with a strong data component and is designed to allow peer learning and sharing of experiences. It acknowledges the challenges in compiling data in emerging areas of user interest, such as the identification of goods traded within global manufacturing arrangements and digital trade. The course examines themes and challenges emerging from developments in the global economy, and participants have the opportunity to discuss how these impact compilation work. Specific exercises are geared to integrate data compilation with Fund surveillance and policy advice; and to demonstrate the analytical uses of ESS.
Target Audience: Officials responsible for the compilation of external sector statistics (ESS) -Balance of Payments (BOP) and/or International Investment Position (IIP) statistics - who possess knowledge and experience in applying internationally accepted standards for these macroeconomic statistics.
Description: This workshop is aimed at country officials from national statistics offices (NSOs) and central banks who are seeking to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to leverage Big Data and advanced technologies for generating high-frequency and detailed statistics to enhance macroeconomic monitoring and research in the region. The workshop is delivered by data scientists of the IMF Big Data Center through lectures and hands-on workshops covering various Big Data applications pertinent to macroeconomic statistics, offering insights from both producer and user standpoints. Furthermore, participants have the opportunity to present and discuss their use cases, engage in discussions, and benefit from shared insights and experiences.
Target Audience: This course is targeted at technical staff of national statistics offices and central banks (economists or statisticians, and data scientists) working on macroeconomic statistics, nowcasting, and data science projects.
Description: This course discusses identification and assessment of elementary indicators and the techniques for combining them into a single overall index of economic activity to track trends in the economy. Flash estimates or indexes of economic activity bring together a range of specific economic elementary indicators to give timely overall measures of economic activity. Such measures give useful information to policy makers complementing the annual and quarterly GDP estimates (which are more comprehensive but usually only available after substantial lags) and provide a more comprehensive picture than a set of individual monthly and quarterly indicators (which are up-to-the-minute but reflect just a portion of the total economy). This course is oriented towards actual or potential compilers of short-term indicators in statistical offices and central banks as well as those involved in data collection of monthly indicators. Participants are expected to work with their own available monthly and quarterly time series during the course. These indicators will be used in the practical session to develop experimental estimates.
Target Audience: Officials responsible for compiling short-term or monthly economic indicators in central banks and statistical offices.
Description: This course provides participants with the necessary skills to compile and analyze the BSA matrix - i.e. three-dimensional financial statistics. The BSA allows participants to examine overall balance sheet linkages and identify, as well as evaluate specific exposures and vulnerabilities, such as an excessive reliance on external funding, leverage buildup in the corporate sector, excessive household debt, and overreliance on the banking sector for sovereign debt placement. The course presents a user-friendly BSA tool developed by the IMF, which combines the balance sheets of the financial sector, general government, and the external sector into a single matrix to generate a distribution of claims and liabilities on a from-whom-to-whom basis-an extremely useful tool for macro-financial analysis. Country officials identify critical data gaps, if any, for their respective countries through the process of creating a BSA matrix using their own data submission of financial, fiscal, and external sector statistics to the IMF.
Target Audience: Officials at central banks, ministries of finance and other agencies responsible for (i) compiling monetary and financial statistics, government finance/debt statistics, and external sector statistics; (ii) the supervision and regulation of financial institutions; and (iii) conducting financial stability or macro-financial analyses.
Description: As an integral part of the national data ecosystem, integrating household surveys with other data sources has become paramount to produce data that are more comprehensive, inclusive and timely. Such integration also helps improve quality and efficiency of household surveys. Improving sampling efficiency and coverage is one of the eight technical priorities of the "Positioning Household Surveys for the Next Decade", a paper prepared by the Inter-Secretariat Working Group on Household Surveys to guide the Group its support to national statistical offices. In this context, the UN Statistics Division and the National Bureau of Statistics of China are co-organising an international seminar on Integrating Household Surveys with diverse data sources. The seminar aims to foster knowledge exchange, explore innovative approaches, and address challenges related to survey data integration and interoperability. You are invited to submit abstracts (max. 250 words) for the technical meeting, focusing on one or more of the following aspects: - Practical experiences in negotiating data access with other data owners and in maintaining ethical standard and data confidentiality. - Experiences and work undertaken to improve interoperability of household surveys by design. - Methods used to build a multi-source frame for sampling. - Innovative approaches to integrate household survey with other data sources such as censuses, other surveys, administrative data and nontraditional data such as remote sensing, mobile phone positioning data, social media data and citizen-generated data. This may include record linkage or modelling. - Quality considerations for data integration and integrated data. We have limited funding for experts from low-income and lower-middle income countries. Deadline for submitting your abstract: 15 September 2024 (if you are interested in applying for funding) and 30 September otherwise. https://forms.office.com/e/LJY6Zxzsic.
Description: This course aims to provide a deep understanding of the concepts, data sources and compilation techniques for BOP and IIP statistics. It focusses on their application in addressing complex methodological issues in accordance with the recently updated Integrated Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual, Seventh Edition (BPM7). The intermediate level of the course presupposes participants' familiarity with the basic concepts. The course consists of a series of lectures and workshops analyzing country cases with a strong data component and is designed to allow peer learning and sharing of experiences. It acknowledges the challenges in compiling data in emerging areas of user interest, such as the identification of goods traded within global manufacturing arrangements and digital trade. The course examines themes and challenges emerging from developments in the global economy, and participants have the opportunity to discuss how these impact compilation work. Specific exercises are geared to integrate data compilation with Fund surveillance and policy advice; and to demonstrate the analytical uses of ESS.
Target Audience: Officials responsible for the compilation of external sector statistics (ESS) (balance of payments and/or international investment position (IIP) statistics), and who are familiar with the methodology of the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Statistics Manual, sixth edition (BPM6).
Description: This course is based on the conceptual framework of the System of National Accounts (SNA). It covers advanced methodological and practical issues related to the compilation of the sequence of accounts of the SNA (current accounts, capital accounts, financial account, other changes in volume of assets account, revaluation account, and balance sheets) by institutional sectors. It examines the linkages between institutional sectors as a basis for establishing from-whom-to-whom accounts. The course provides participants with the necessary skills to compile-or further enhance-their country's institutional sector accounts and balance sheets. The lectures provide a thorough review of the methodological framework, concepts, and definitions relating to sectoral institutional sector accounts and balance sheets, examine potential data sources for the compilation of annual and quarterly accounts, and illustrate possible compilation techniques and procedures. The course also provides a forum for participants to share country practices and experiences relating to the compilation of sectoral institutional accounts and balance sheets.
Target Audience: Officials whose main responsibility is compiling national accounts, including financial accounts statistics and balance of payments statistics (specifically responsible for the sectoral accounts, household distribution accounts and accounts on a from-whom-to-whom basis), who are employed by national statistical agencies and central banks.
