“Socio-Economic Performance and Potential Analysis Capacity” (SEPPAC) project officially launched

One of the most important objectives for a country on building a market economy is to institute modern mechanisms for evaluating economic potential and the socio-economic consequences of its realization. This is the main goal of the “Socio-Economic Performance and Potential Analysis Capacity” project, which was officially launched on 13 October 2006. The project is being implemented by the Conference Board of Canada and the International Centre for Policy Studies and financed by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

Over the next three years, ICPS and the Conference Board of Canada will work to increase professional capacity among Ukrainian Government workers and analysts by providing them with instruments to evaluate Ukraine’s economic potential and its socio-economic performance. More than 50 employees of government organizations will be trained in applying benchmarking methods and assessing potential output.

Other participants in this project are partners from the Ukrainian Government: the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Finance, the National Bank, Derzhkomstat, the state statistics committee, and the National Security Council.

Workshops and seminars will be held by specialists from the Conference Board of Canada, which has gained worldwide recognition for its high quality of economic analysis and forecasting methods. In addition, economists from ICPS will participate in the project with the aim of developing methods for independent expert evaluation of government policy.

Project activities will include the publication of policy papers developed by the Government and NGOs containing comparative analysis of socio-economic indicators for Ukraine and other countries with different levels of economic development. As part of planning government policy, the project will help identify government policy steps aimed at both resolving Ukraine’s current problems and eliminating potential bottlenecks.

Project participants will also develop a short-term model for evaluating potential output that will be the basis for the country’s monetary policy, with due consideration for targeting inflation.

More information about this project can be found on the official SEPPAC website: www.seppac.ca