Program Overview
The Macroeconomist Training Program (MTP) is an outreach initiative to young scholars and professionals to help them gain an understanding of how the IMF uses financial programming and other tools to analyze macroeconomic issues and provide policy recommendations.
Under this program, selected applicants are invited for a residential workshop* to join lectures by former IMF economists and undertake group work on a mock IMF-style country surveillance exercise.
Launched in August 2017, twenty-first MTP sessions have been held for a total of 411 youths from 52 countries (as of August 2024). These courses have served as a launching pad to the full online courses offered by the IMF Institute for Capacity Development.
* During the COVID-19 pandemic, the courses were offered virtually.
Content
The lectures will provide an overview of IMF economic surveillance, including the use of its financial programming tool. Students will discuss real country cases of bilateral surveillance and lending programs, and undertake their own analysis of a country case as a group, using the tools introduced in the course.
Target Participants
For the English course: Students studying in Japan on Master’s/ PhD degree programs in macroeconomics, international finance, development economics, and other related fields. Young professionals and undergraduate students can also apply.
For the Japanese course: Undergraduate students studying in Japan in macroeconomics, international finance, development economics, and other related fields. Students pursuing a master’s degree and young professionals may also apply.
A Certificate of Participation will be granted to participants who complete this workshop.
Main Lecturers
English course
Dr. Schiff currently teaches at George Washington University. Previously, he was Deputy Director of the Asia and Pacific Department of the IMF. He held a number of senior positions at the IMF. He is also a visiting professor at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Public Policy.
Japanese course
Dr. Ishii currently serves as an IMF Consultant. Previously, he was the Director of the IMF Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. He has also held a variety of senior positions at the IMF including mission chief for Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam and Senior Resident Representative in Thailand.
Agenda (sample: 18th course, 17th course)
18th course (Tokyo, English)
| Day 1 | |
| 13:00- |
Registration |
| 13:30-14:00 | Icebreaking Session This session provides the opportunity for the students to get to know each other before the lectures start. |
| 14:00-14:05 | Welcome and Opening Remarks |
| 14:05-14:45 |
A. Role of the IMF |
| 14:45-16:15 | B. Financial Programming I: The IMF’s macroeconomic framework This session presents an overview of how the IMF analyzes macroeconomic issues. The lecture will present the IMF’s financial programming tool, and illustrate how it is used to understand linkages between macroeconomic variables and make sensible projections and policy recommendations. |
| 16:15-16:30 | Break |
|
16:30-18:00 |
C. Financial Programing II: Fiscal policy |
| Day 2 | |
| 9:00-11:00 |
D. Financial Programming III: Monetary and financial sector policies. |
| 11:00-11:15 |
Break |
| 11:15-12:45 |
E. IMF Surveillance: The case of Turkey |
| 12:45-13:45 | Break |
| 13:45-14:45 | F. Presentation by JICA |
| 14:45-15:15 | G. Explanation of Group Assignments In this brief session, the group assignment will be explained. There will also be an opportunity for participants to ask questions based on the written material provided ahead of time. |
| 15:15-18:00 | H. Office hours: Preparation of group presentations |
| Day 3 | |
|
9:00-10:30 |
I. IMF-Supported Programs: The case of Sri Lanka |
| 10:30-10:45 | Break |
| 10:45-11:45 | J. Office hours: Preparation of group presentations |
| 11:45-12:45 | Lunch |
| 12:45-16:00 |
H. Group Presentations |
| 16:00-16:30 | Photo Session and Closing Remarks / End of Course Survey |
| 16:30- | Reception |
Please note that the schedule is subject to change. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the course was offered virtually through online lessons.
17th course (Tokyo, Japanese)
| Day 1 | |
| 13:00- |
Registration |
| 13:30-14:00 | Icebreaking Session This session will be held in order to provide the opportunity for the students to get to know each other before the lectures start. |
| 14:00-14:05 | Welcome and Opening Remarks |
| 14:05-14:45 |
A. The Role of the IMF |
| 14:45-16:15 |
B. Macroeconomic Framework and Linkages This session will present an overview of the ways in which member countries’ macroeconomic developments and policies are analyzed in the IMF. It will focus on key macroeconomic accounts and their linkages |
| 16:15-16:30 | Break |
| 16:30-18:00 | C. Financial Programing: Baseline Scenario This session will discuss how the financial programing is used to make baseline projections that are consistent among sectors and sensible. |
| Day 2 | |
| 9:00-10:30 | D. Assessing Baseline Scenario This session will explain how a baseline scenario will be used to identify macroeconomic imbalances and risks. |
| 10:30-10:45 | Break |
| 10:45-12:15 | E. Macroeconomic Policies This session will discuss various macroeconomic policies and their main objectives. The anticipated impact of policy measures and their constraints will be also discussed. |
| 12:15-13:15 |
Lunch |
| 13:15-14:45 | F. IMF-Supported Adjustment Program This session will discuss the role of, and process behind, an IMF-supported program. A case study of Egypt will be utilized to provide concrete examples of key concepts introduced during the day, and to explore trade-offs faced in program design. |
| 14:45-15:00 | Break |
| 15:00-16:00 | G. Explanation on Group Assignments An instruction and a set of macroeconomic data of Lao PDR and Sri Lanka will be provided. |
| 16:00-18:00 | H. Office Hour _ Preparation for Group Presentation |
| Day 3 | |
| 9:00-10:30 | I. Case Study: Egypt This session reviews Egypt’s recent economic developments and the 46-month Extended Fund Facility program approved in January 2023. The program aims at preserving macroeconomic stability and paving the way for sustainable private-sector-led growth. |
| 10:30-10:45 | Break |
| 10:45-11:45 | J. Presentation by JICA |
| 11:45-12:45 | Lunch |
| 12:45-14:15 |
K. Group Presentation I |
| 14:15-14:30 | Break |
| 14:30-16:00 | L. Group Presentation II |
| 16:00-16:30 |
Photo Session and Closing remarks / End of Course Survey |
| 16:30-18:00 | Reception |
Past Courses
- 21st course: July 30- August 1, 2024, Tokyo, English
20 people from 10 countries participated. Facebook | X - 20th course: March 27-29, 2024, Tokyo, Japanese
19 people from 3 countries participated. Facebook | X - 19th course: January 10-12, 2024, Tokyo, English
20 people from 13 countries participated. Facebook | X - 18th course: June 15-17, 2023, Tokyo, English
22 people from 15 countries participated. FB post | Tweet - 17th course: March 22-24, 2023, Tokyo, Japanese
19 people from 4 countries participated. FB post | Tweet - 16th course: January 10-16, 2023, Online, English
17 people from 5 countries participated. FB post 1 | FB post 2 | Tweet 1 | Tweet 2 - 15th course: August 2-8, 2022, Online, English
19 people from 13 countries participated. FB post 1 | FB post 2 | Tweet 1 | Tweet 2. - 14th course : March 22- 28, 2022, Online, Japanese
17 people from 2 countries participated. FB post 1 | FB post 2 | Tweet 1 | Tweet 2. - 13th course : January 12- 17, 2022, Online, English
18 people from 10 countries participated. FB post 1 | FB post 2 | Tweet 1 | Tweet 2. - 12th course : July 27- August 2, 2021, Online, English
20 people from 11 countries participated. FB post 1 | FB post 2 | Tweet 1 | Tweet 2. - 11th course : March 16-22, 2021, Online, Japanese
18 people from 3 countries participated. See the Twitter page. - 10th course : January 5-10, 2021, Online, English
19 people from 6 countries participated. See the Facebook page. - 9th course : July 8-13, 2020, Online, Japanese
19 people from 4 countries participated. See the news article. - 8th course : January 9-10, 2020, Tokyo, English
21 people from 13 countries participated, 14 more remotely joined.
See the news article.
- 7th course : June 21-22, 2019, Tokyo, English
20 people from 11 countries participated. See the news article. - 6th course : March 7-8, 2019, Fukuoka, Japanese
23 people from 3 countries participated. See the news article. - 5th course : January 10-11, 2019, Tokyo, English
19 people from 10 countries participated. See the flyer. - 4th course : June 15-16, 2018, Kyoto, English
22 people from 10 countries participated. See the webpage. - 3rd course : May 9-10, 2018, Japanese
20 people from 3 countries participated. See the webpage. - 2nd course : January 11-12, 2018, English
18 people from 11 countries participated. See the webpage. - 1st course : August 9-10, 2017, Tokyo, English
21 people from 7 countries participated. See the webpage.
Voices of Students
"The most useful aspects of the workshop included revisiting fundamental macroeconomic theories, which refreshed my knowledge after several years of undergraduate study in economics and provide a good opportunity to learn the basic academic skills for my upcoming MBA programme. Also the case study on the IMF, which provided practical insights into its role and processes was highly useful. Additionally, the group presentation was valuable for learning from peers with gaining a greater expertise in macroeconomics, enhancing both my understanding and teamwork skills." -- Natsuko Kikkawa from Japan, University of Cambridge (21st course)
"Through the lectures, I was able to learn what kind of macroeconomic analysis is actually conducted in the field of policy making and surveying the economic situation of each country. In the group work, I was able to realize the difficulty of macroeconomic analysis, as there are multiple factors and issues that affect the economic situation, and we had to select what to prioritize in formulating policies." -- Sayaka Numano from Japan, Ochanomizu University (20th course)
"The group work is quite interesting and this kind of formal is relatively close to the work with other researchers in the real world. Analysis of one country's economy by the framework of dividing it into four sectors is quite useful. I will use this kind of method when I want to have a quick look of the current situation of an economy." -- Cunhao Li from China, Waseda University (19th course)
"The workshop provided us with a unique opportunity to delve into economic surveillance of countries, gaining valuable insights into how the IMF analyzes its member countries through financial programming and policy assessment and subsequently formulates policy recommendations. The knowledge and experiences gained during these three days will undoubtedly contribute to my growth as a Ph.D. candidate in Economics and also my future career." -- Mutita Ariyavutikul (Benz) from Thailand, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (18th course)
"I find the program offers us excellent networking and the opportunity to have engaging discussions on relevant topics with people from diverse backgrounds. We were given adequate time for questions and answers to deepen our understanding of the topics. I feel that it was very interesting and informative to hear the opinions of the distinguished Professor Ishii and the various opinions of other participants." -- Cleo Eri Kyu from Japan, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (17th course)
"Through the workshop, I can try the IMF's analytic framework practically. With team members from diverse backgrounds, the discussion for the presentation was so exciting that I could expand my knowledge. As I am now researching economics at a private thinktank, I will apply the framework I learned to analyze the fiscal and financial imbalance in Japan." -- Kohei Kikuchi from Japan, King's College London (16th course)
"I found the case study the most useful. Before, I would have found it difficult to construct an economic snapshot of a country based on its macroeconomic data, but now I feel confident about drawing inferences from the data and identifying potential vulnerabilities of economies. And what made the whole experience memorable was being able to apply this learning to a group project with other talented students." -- Miyu Haraguchi from Japan, University of Oxford (15th course)
"I could not only learn about the framework the IMF uses for its analysis but also deeply understand it since I had opportunities, such as discussion and presentation, to share what I learned. Totally, I feel like I could manage to know what it is like to work in the IMF and what they work for." -- Daiki Yamashita from Japan, Kyoto University (14th course)
“As for me, it was just the revision of four sectors and I updated my knowledge on macroeconomics. However, it was great to learn new things from international lecturers and specialists. The most interesting part was economic surveillance, how economic organizations like the IMF deal with the economies. I really like the methods which the IMF uses for the evaluation of the economy.” -- Elbek Abdullaev from Uzbekistan, Saitama University (13th course)
“This program helped me to connect all the sectors of the economy and to see a bigger picture of the country, through looking at the economic data. Understanding about Balance of Payment was the most interesting and helpful part for me, since I have quite big interest in foreign exchange reserves.” -- Bolortuya Munkhbat from Mongolia, Saitama University (12th course)
“I was able to gain the experience of incorporating what I learned in the lecture and the knowledge of economics that I had accumulated so far into actual analysis, which greatly deepens my understanding. In addition, I learned the difficulty and the fun of analyzing a country’s economy through a group discussion in cooperation with team members.” -- Inbong Kim from Korea, The University of Hong Kong (11th course)
"Jerry Schiff was a fantastic lecturer. He explained the framework very clearly and I learned so many important insights from him. Breaking down a country's data into the four sectors really make it much easier to understand the overall picture. After this program, I feel like I now understand the problems I used to face back when I was working in the Department of Finance in the Philippines in much clearer ways." -- Leandro Inumerable from the Philippines, Hitotsubashi University (10th course)
"In addition to being able to observe and gain a deeper understanding of practical application of macroeconomics that I have been interested in, I began to aspire to bring meaningful impact to the global economy at an institution like the IMF. I would like to continue to gain opportunities to practice economic analysis." -- Akane Gonda from Japan, Keio University (9th course)
"I really enjoyed the lectures on financial programming design, as this is a great insight into IMF's way of looking at the economy." -- Bastien Guilleminot-Simon from France, The University of Tokyo (8th course)
"I learned a lot about the assessment process based on macroeconomic indicators." -- Quang Thanh Tran from Vietnam, Tohoku University (8th course)
"The assignment itself was very hands-on and reflects real life situations where many times you are required to accomplish tasks in a limited amount of time with a very limited amount of data." -- Jason Agius from Malta, Ritsumeikan University (7th course)
"Studying the country examples was also very helpful in understanding how the IMF conducts surveillance in member states." -- Secil Er from Turkey, Osaka University (7th course)
