Head of CPI Anna Luvu pointing out her staff to Mr Powell.
The Economics Unit within the National Statistics Office will begin a two-day training starting today with Mathew Powell, a Real Sector Advisor with the Pacific Financial Technical Assistant Cooperation (PFTAC) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) branch based in Suva, Fiji.
On Monday 19th September, the Economics Unit staff met briefly with Mr Powell where the Economics Chief Statistician Andrew Kakate and Head of Consumer Price Index Anna Luvu introduced their staff, helping him put names to faces.
Mr Powell told the staff that this is not his first time here in the Solomon Islands having been posted in the country from 1988 to 1990 as an ODI fellow.
He will assist the NSO in providing capacity building in economics statistics such as improvements to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) compilations, consumer prices, especially price deflators, and merchandise trade statistics.
He will also provide basic trainings on topics relating to producing these statistics and issues and challenges faced including simplifying the current GDP compilation model.
Mr Mathew Powell.
“We want a simple and straightforward GDP system that is easier to follow.”
“It should be an improvable system.”
He said the training next week will not only be on national accounts, but will also include prices, especially deflators and the linkages to national accounts estimates.
Mr Powell will conduct the training for the Economics Unit today Monday, and Wednesday.