Effective Public Debt Management Strategies In A World Of Sovereign Assets (SALM)

Course details

Target Audience:

Senior and mid-level government officials, monetary authorities and other public sector officials with responsibility for debt management policies and decisions and / or oversight and management responsibility of key sovereign asset portfolios. This includes staff with policy and operational responsibilities relating to monitoring and managing sovereign liabilities, including the negotiation of loans and issuance of debt securities in both domestic and international capital markets, plus officials with policy and operational responsibilities for the management of key portfolios of sovereign assets.

Qualification:

Participants are expected to have a background in financial markets and macroeconomics; familiarity with debt sustainability analysis is desirable.

Language:

The course is conducted in English with simultaneous interpretation into Arabic.

Course Description:

This course, presented by the IMF’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department, is intended to broaden participants’ understanding of the main policy and operational issues in developing public debt management strategies that effectively take a comprehensive and holistic overview of the sovereign balance sheet. The course also covers the management of sovereign assets, including international reserves but also sovereign wealth or other public sector asset funds (such as pension assets), under a comprehensive Asset-Liability Management (ALM) approach. It explores the issue of contingent liabilities, and how strategies could be adapted to reflect the risk that such liabilities materialize. The course further addresses a range of technical issues, including quantitative techniques to inform decision making, and key institutional issues, including issues in coordination, and transparency.

The course considers, inter-alia, the following:

•  The different approaches for developing a debt management strategy under an ALM framework: identification of the objectives of the strategy; identification of key risk parameters; and, measurement of portfolio risks, including currency, duration and refinancing exposures;
•  Coordination with other key policy areas (including monetary and fiscal policy): identifying key information on relevant asset portfolios (including characteristics and projected impact on overall balance) and the systematic approach for developing a strategic asset management strategy under an ALM framework; and, determining the key risk scenarios (including on contingent liabilities); and
•  Implementation and operational issues: effective organizational arrangements; accessing debt capital markets effectively (international and domestic); the role of communication strategies, and, effective monitoring arrangements (including ongoing risk measurement).