Macroeconomics Research Unit Officially Launched at the 3rd International Biennial Macroeconomics Symposium

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The Macroeconomics Research Unit (MRU) recently hosted its 3rd International Biennial Macroeconomics Symposium (IBMS2024) and officially launched the Unit in Durban.

The two-day Symposium themed: ‘Economic Recovery Under Uncertainty: The Role of Fiscal and Monetary Policy’ featured over 40 papers presented by academics, postgraduate students, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and practitioners from all over Africa seeking to understand the role of fiscal and monetary policy in the country’s economic recovery process, as well as how uncertainty influences the ability to co-ordinate fiscal and monetary policy.

South African Reserve Bank Chair of Monetary Economics at the University of Pretoria, Professor Nicola Viegi, and Professor of Economics at Stellenbosch University, Professor Guangling Liu, were the event’s keynote speakers.

“Trouble Every Day: Monetary Policy in South Africa” was the title of Viegi’s address. It focused on the surprises, information, risk and monetary shocks related to the country’s monetary policy.

“Monetary Policy Shocks and Inflation: The Impact of Backed vs. Unbacked Public Debt in a Policy Mix Regime” was the title of Liu’s address. It focused on inflation: monetary vs fiscal; International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS): Monetary policy shock, welfare and efficiency policy frontier.

There are two significant research outputs that are expected from this Symposium:

• Selected papers will be published in a special edition of the African Journal of Governance and Development.
• Some selected papers will be published in an edited book titled: Economic recovery under uncertainty: The role of fiscal and monetary policy which is also the theme of the Symposium.

The inaugural macroeconomics symposium was held in 2021 under the theme: “Unemployment, Growth and Inflation: Lessons from COVID-19”. The second macroeconomics symposium was held in 2023 under the theme: “Rethinking Macroeconomics post COVID-19”.

The Symposium was followed by the official launch of the MRU which is a Unit comprising of academics and postgraduate students whose mission is to advance and develop research in this field. The Unit’s pioneering macroeconomics research output is expected to lead to well-informed policy decisions and implementation and to also be published in leading journals. The Unit was established in 2018 and officially launched in 2024 by UKZN’s Dean of Research (Acting), Professor Neil Koorbanally, and College of Law and Management Studies Deputy-Vice Chancellor and Head (Acting), Professor Managay Reddi, who applauded the researchers for their valuable knowledge contribution to the University and the world.

‘The University has recognised that our role has to be nuanced. We can no longer afford to be insulated from the communities in whose midst we are located. Our sustainability depends not only on our research outputs and the number of graduates we produce but, more importantly, on whether our graduates can make a difference to society. I want to congratulate the conference organisers for their acumen in choosing a theme that powerfully reflects the most pressing issues our society must resolve if peace and prosperity are our communal goals,’ said Reddi.

The Unit’s achievements include partnering with eThekwini Municipality and the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) in 2022 to come up with the Durban Business Confidence Index (BCI) which is the first business confidence index for any metro in South Africa. In the partnership, eThekwini Municipality is the funder while DCCI is responsible for the administrative function of the project, and UKZN’s MRU is a technical partner. The first Durban BCI was launched in the third quarter of 2022. Since then, the index has been produced quarterly without fail. MRU is still looking for potential funders to supplement the funding from the Municipality and would like to also include postgraduate students and postdoctoral research fellows in the project, if funds are available.

MRU co-ordinates research seminar presentations for Academics and postgraduate students in the School of Accounting, Economics and Finance where they meet once every week to share their respective research findings. The Unit has also organised many workshops aimed at equipping academics and postgraduate students with contemporary research techniques. These include workshops on Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) modelling using the Rationality in Switching Environments (RISE) Toolbox; Bayesian Econometrics; Introduction to R; and many others.

Words: NdabaOnline

Photograph: Nkosikhona Gcabashe