eBusiness Weekly
BH24 Reporter
HARARE – Deputy Central Bank govenors and deputy permanent secretaries from the region will meet for the Macroeconomic and Financial Management Institute of Eastern and Southern Africa (MEFMI). annual forum to in Harare from tomorrow.
The forum will be attended by at least 17 officials comprising deputy permanent secretaries and deputy Central Bank governors from the MEFMI region, technical experts from Crown Agents Investment Management (CAIM) and African Development Bank (AfDB).
CAIM is the financial and technical partner for the event.
The forum is a platform for deputy governors and deputy principal or permanent secretaries of finance from the MEFMI region to discuss issues pertaining to economic policy management in the MEFMI region in line with global developments.
The theme for the 2018 Forum is “Trends in Sovereign Reserve Management” and is driven by the lingering concerns of the weakening external positions that are faced by the region following the aftermath of the global economy slowdown.
Said MEFMI public relations manager Gladys Siwela-Jadagu on the expected outcomes of the forum.
“As at the end of 2017, for most of the countries in the MEFMI region, official reserves stood barely at or below the traditional three months of import cover benchmark.
“There has also been an increasing pattern of foreign portfolio investment flows in the domestic debt markets, which are volatile in nature and susceptible to reversals.
“All these point to increasing external vulnerabilities and the need for the region to act swiftly to implement much needed policy adjustments to ensure macroeconomic stability and strengthening of external buffers.”
