First-ever ‘IMF SDG Financing Tool’ workshop held in cooperation with Sustainable Development Ministry

Manama, The International Monetary Fund (IMF) held, in cooperation with the Ministry of Sustainable Development, a workshop on 'IMF Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Financing Tool' (SDG-FiT). The IMF's Fiscal Affairs Department chose Bahrain to host the first edition of the workshop at the international level. Launched in April 2023 to support the IMF SDG Financing Framework, the SDG-FiT aims to prepare interactive scenarios that can be used to assess the size of the necessary additional financing to achieve SDGs across five basic sectors, namely health, education, roads, electricity, as well as water and sanitation. The Tool allows users to assess the macroeconomic coherence of a country's SDG development plans, as it helps stakeholders to adopt long-term comprehensive plans, evaluate the impact of policies, and compare financing options. The workshop focused on several topics, including ways to evaluate the estimated cost of implementing and achieving the SDGs (SDG Costing), in addition to how to mo del the forecast future scenarios, as well as positive and negative abstract analyses that may contribute to accelerating or slowing down the achievements of the goals. The workshop also focused on macroeconomic forecasts, and trained the participants on high-level financial and economic modelling through the use of the IMF SDG Financing Tool. Representatives of the Ministry of Finance and National Economy, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Sustainable Development, the Central Bank of Bahrain, the Electricity and Water Authority and the Information and e-Government Authority attended the workshop held on April 28-30. The workshop is part of the Sustainable Development Ministry's efforts to enhance skills and capabilities in the fields of sustainable development, a s well as apply the best international technologies and practices in this regard. It is also part of a series of activities carried o ut by the Ministry in cooperation with international organisations to support the development of knowledge and the effective exchange of experiences. Source: Bahrain News Agency