Workshop: IGC Macroeconomics Group 2012

Two workshops on fiscal and monetary policy in developing countries were held at the London School of Economics and Political Science on 2-3 November 2012, respectively. These events followed up on successful workshops that were held in October 2011 at the LSE, bringing together top academic experts on monetary and fiscal policy with economists and policy-makers from developing countries.

Ghana Country Director Nii Sowa speaking at the monetary policy workshop

These workshops consisted of two main parts: a first one where papers and research work relevant to fiscal and monetary policy in low-income countries were presented, and a second one which took the form of a brainstorming session. The afternoon discussion aimed to stimulate exchanges between policy-makers and academics in order to motivate these academics to focus on under-researched areas relevant to low-income countries.

The workshop summaries and agendas are available below, as are presentations from:

• Gianluca Benigno, LSE, Reserve accumulation, growth and financial crises
• Ehsan Choudri, Carleton University, Monetary policy in Pakistan: Confronting fiscal dominance and imperfect credibility
• Ethan Ilzetzki, LSE, Fiscal policy and debt dynamics in developing countries
• Aart Kraay, World Bank, Government spending multipliers in developing countries: Evidence from lending by official creditors
• Prachi Mishra, Ministry of Finance, India, Monetary transmission in developing countries
• Rafael Portillo, IMF, On the implications of structural transformation for inflation and monetary policy (work in progress)
• Felipe Zanna, IMF, Borrowing for growth: Big pushes and debt sustainability in low-income countries

The photos from the workshop are available on our Flickr photostream.