The yearly joint workshop of the Macroeconomic and Financial Management Institute of Eastern and Southern Africa (MEFMI) and UNCTAD's Debt Management and Financial Analysis System (DMFAS) Programme was held in Harare, Zimbabwe, in June on debt data validation.
The workshop was attended by the five MEFMI countries currently using the DMFAS system: Angola, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, with a total of 25 participants from Ministries of Finance and Central Banks who are involved in debt management operations. Two UNCTAD staff members from the DMFAS Programme -- Diego Rivetti and Gabor Piski -- supported the workshop.
Since the creation of the Macroeconomic and Financial Management Institute of Eastern and Southern Africa (MEFMI) in 1997, UNCTAD and MEFMI have been collaborating closely on debt management issues. This strong capacity building partnership is materialized through the organization of regular joint events.
On the chosen topic this year of debt data validation, as emphasized by the Secretary for Finance of Zimbabwe, H.E. Willard Manungo, in his opening statement to the workshop, debt data validation is a critical aspect of debt management, ensuring the quality of debt information upon which key policy decisions are taken.
Specifically, the workshop provided training on how to define debt data validation procedures and use DMFAS 6.0, the latest version of the DMFAS system, to produce validation reports.
At the end of the workshop, each country delegation produced a first draft of a debt data validation procedure manual. Upon return to their countries, the delegations will present the drafts to their authorities with the objective of implementing such validation procedures in their debt offices.
