The first Nowcasting Course at the JVI

The IMFs Nowcasting course was delivered for the first time at the JVI during February 20-24, 2023. This one-week course equipped participants with tools to incorporate high-frequency economic indicators into the forecasting process. 26 participants, mainly from ministries of finance and central banks, from 14 countries attended the course. Many of them came with a good background in nowcasting.

During the course, participants familiarized themselves with EViews tools for frequency conversion, interpolation and seasonal adjustment. The core part of the course was dedicated to standard nowcasting models (including Bridge, MIDAS, U-MIDAS) and the application of Principal Component Analysis. The procedures for evaluating the accuracy of the nowcasts using several forecasting performance indicators were also covered.

The taught methods were subsequently put into practice during the workshops. Participants appreciated the detailed workshop descriptions, allowing them to reproduce all analyses in EViews. The course concluded with group projects on nowcasting GDP of selected countries using all the techniques covered in the course.

Given the relatively short duration of the course, the next edition planned for early 2024 will likely be extended to two weeks, allowing more time for more advanced techniques. 

Tatiana Evdokimova, JVI Economist