African Development Bank (AfDB) - the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent.
POSITION : Principal Research Economist - Fiscal Policy and Public Debt Sustainability Analysis
The Hiring Department
- The Macroeconomics Policy, Forecasting And Research Department is dedicated to the generation of high quality knowledge in the area of development in Africa.
- It provides technical support to operations and regional member countries through rigorous analytical work; engages in impactful policy dialogue with decision-making bodies within and outside of the Bank; and most importantly enhance the operational effectiveness of the Bank in achieving the High 5s.
- The activities of the department are structured around the Macroeconomic Policy, Debt Sustainability and Forecasting on one side, and the Microeconomics, Institutional and Development Impact on the other.
- The Macroeconomic Policy, Debt Sustainability and Forecasting Division is responsible for the following, inter alia:
- Conducting policy research and debt sustainability analysis in order to improve the Bank’s macroeconomic surveillance and understanding of sovereign debt risk profile and the policy tools Regional Member Countries can deploy to contain debt distress;
- Conducting macroeconomic modelling and forecasting for Regional Member Countries;
- Providing cutting edge analytical support to Senior Management through timely and rigorous economic intelligence work;
- Collaborating with partner institutions; research think tanks and universities, both within and outside Africa, in order to deepen analytical capacity and broaden the scope and outreach of the Bank’s research work and
- Leading the production and dissemination of all the Bank’s flagship publications and other knowledge products on Africa’s emerging macroeconomic and development issues and on the Bank’s High 5s priority areas.
The Position
The Principal Research Economist - Fiscal Policy and Public Debt Sustainability Analysis is part of a team responsible for building and maintaining Debt Sustainability Analysis frameworks and to analyze fiscal and debt sustainability issues in Regional Member Countries.
Responsibilities
Under the supervision and guidance of the Division manager - Macroeconomic Policy, Debt Sustainability and Forecasting Division, The Principal Research Economist - Fiscal and Public Debt Sustainability Analysis will:
1 Construct, manage and assess effectiveness of models for conducing fiscal and debt sustainability analysis:
- Develop Debt Sustainability Analysis framework and DSGE-based Debt-Investment-Growth models for assessing sustainability of public debt of Regional Member Countries.
- Carry out simulations and determination of domestic resource capacities of Regional Member Countries (optimality of tax revenues and financing requirements and sources); assess efficiency of public expenditure.
2 Plans, develops and implements research programs and projects. This involves:
- Undertake research to assess impact of different public borrowing requirements on investment, growth and debt sustainability.
- Contribute to the preparation of flagship publications and other knowledge products such as African Economic Outlook; African Development Report; Economic Frontier Research and Bank Policy Currents; books, reports, etc.
- Provide comparative research analysis on the implications of public debt dynamics for African economies and Bank Group operations.
- Represent the Division in country teams and interdepartmental working groups within the Bank; review operations documents; and provide analytical input on all matters related to fiscal policy, public debt and public expenditure management.
3 Represent the Bank in international and regional conferences, seminars and workshops where such papers will be presented:
- Organize and participate in internal Research Seminars and/or International Conferences on Development Policy Issues.
- Contribute to the training and capacity development activities in the Bank and in Regional Member Countries.
- Publish research output in the Bank’s working paper series and reputable peer reviewed journals.
4 Perform other tasks as requested by the Division Manager:
- Prepare funding request proposals to mobilize research funds from other organizations and agencies.
- Participate in writing and reviewing of policy statements and briefs for Senior Management on economic development issues, particularly on dynamics public debt and broad macroeconomic issues.
Selection Criteria
- At least a Ph.D. Degree in Development Macroeconomics; Public Sector Economics; Monetary Economics; Econometrics or related discipline.
- Have a minimum of six (6) years of relevant professional and research experience in multilateral or research institution in Africa or other low income countries.
- Strong publications record in reputable peer reviewed journals and strong evidence of practical experience and familiarity with fiscal and public debt sustainability analysis tools.
- Design and construct models for public debt sustainability analysis.
- Aanalyze incentive structure and distortionary impact of subsidies, grants and other fiscal policies on income distribution and public sector investments.
- Identify the appropriate methods and techniques to conduct research and present the results.
- Proven ability to lead and manage small team of researchers in specific projects and/or tasks; capacity to initiate innovative research ideas and techniques in order to improve research Fiscal policy making in Regional Member Countries.
- Communicate and write effectively in French or English, with a good working knowledge of the other language.
- Competence in the use of leading econometrics software packages (Matlab, Eviews, R, Stata, GAMS, etc.) and in Ms. Suites (Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Access) and SAP.
Sorry the application deadline for this job has elapsed
