India, IMF sign pact to set up regional training centre

India and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Saturday decided to set up a regional training and technical assistance centre in Delhi to enhance capacity development and training officials in dealing with macro-economic and financial issues.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) to set up the centre was signed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde at New Delhi in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"This will be the first centre that fully integrates training and technical assistance and is a model for our future capacity development work," said Lagarde.

The South Asia Regional Training and Technical Assistance Center (SARTTAC) is expected to become the focal point for planning, co-ordinating and implementing IMF's capacity development activity in the region on a wide range of issues, including macro-economic and fiscal management, monetary operations, financial sector regulation and supervision, and macro-economic statistics.

The centre will help address existing training requirements and respond to demand for IMF training in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, while bringing the region's training volume on par with those of other regions.

SARTTAC will offer courses and seminars for policymakers and other government agencies from the six countries.

Funding of the project will come from regional member countries and development partners. The Australian Agency for International Development, the Republic of Korea and India have pledged financial support for the centre.