AKIPRESS.COM - The Caucasus, Central Asia, and Mongolia Regional Capacity Development Center (CCAMTAC) is the newest addition to the IMF’s global network of now 17 regional capacity development centers. Following the signing of the Letter of Understanding between the Governor of the National Bank of Kazakhstan Erbolat Dossaev and the IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on December 14, 2020, the inaugural CCAMTAC steering committee meeting met on January 28 and endorsed the launch of the center starting February 1, 2021, as well as a work program for its first few months of operation.

Based on a comprehensive assessment of member countries’ Capacity Development priorities, the CCAMTAC will host seven long-term advisors focusing on the following areas:

· Macroeconomic analysis: macroeconomic frameworks for financial programming, forecasting and policy analysis.

· Fiscal policy: public financial management, macro-fiscal issues, revenue administration.

· Monetary and financial sector: central bank operations and financial regulation and supervision.

· Macroeconomic statistics: national accounts, prices, and government-finance and debt statistics.

The center will cooperate closely with IMF Headquarters and regional training centers, in particular the Joint Vienna Institute (JVI), Singapore Training Institute (STI) and China-IMF Capacity Development Center (CICDC), to maximize synergies between training, hands-on technical assistance, and peer exchanges.

Kazakhstan, the host country, is a major contributor to the CCAMTAC, along with other member countries, development partners, and the IMF. Switzerland, Korea, Poland, and the Asian Development Bank are the first development partners to have contributed, and additional contributions to the center’s five-year budget are expected soon.