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Central Banks staff trained to handle volatility in financial markets

by Staff Reporter
06 Sep 2015 at 09:16hrs | Views
Central Banks staff from nine COMESA Member States have been trained to handle financial market volatility which poses risks on economic growth.

The staff drawn from Burundi, DR Congo, Malawi, Egypt, Kenya, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe went through two weeks advanced training in Modeling Volatility in Financial Markets within the Multivariate Framework.

It was conducted by the COMESA Monetary Institute (CMI) in Nairobi from 27 July - 7 August 2015.

The objectives of the training were; to develop capacity of Central Bank staffs from Member countries and enhance the implementation of the COMESA Framework for Assessing Financial Stability and knowledge sharing. It provided a forum for networking between member states on issues related with financial stability.

The Executive Director of the Kenya School of Monetary Studies (KSMS) Professor Kinandu Muragu and Mr. Ibrahim Zeidy, the Director of CMI who addressed the participants emphasized the need to develop capacity in modeling and forecasting especially for financial markets.

Noting that financial markets are prone to volatility, they pointed out that such volatility generates uncertainty, which increases the associated level of risk. It could therefore have serious adverse impact on financial stability and economic growth, they said.

Further they underscored the importance for evidence based research in Central Banks to inform policy. In order to provide a balance between analytical and applied skills, the training covered, forecasting volatility and forecast performance evaluation among others.

The training followed a directive issued during the 20th Meeting of the COMESA Committee of Governors of Central Banks held in Kinshasa, DR Congo in November 2014, to CMI to organize a course in Modeling Volatility in Financial Markets within the Multivariate Framework for COMESA member countries.

The training equipped the participants with appropriate analytical skills and rigour to be able to adequately measure and forecast volatility in prices of financial market assets.


Source - Comesa