The Central Bank of Oman is hosting the Fifth Conference of the Regional Network of Central Banks on 11–12 February, in cooperation with the World Bank Group’s Office of the Chief Economist for the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The event focuses on strengthening the role of scientific research in economic and financial policy design and implementation, and on building research and analytical capacity across monetary and financial institutions in the region. Over two days, the programme includes conference sessions and training workshops, with fifteen papers selected through an international competitive process. Topics include resilience and economic reform in times of uncertainty, the redesign of fiscal and monetary policies, and regional economic transformation, alongside the implications of rapid technological developments such as artificial intelligence, financial technologies and big data analytics for macroeconomic strategies, financial systems and structural reform. Discussions also address persistent structural challenges including oil dependence, high unemployment and the limited contribution of the private sector to growth, supported by three workshops on non-traditional data in macroeconomic research, machine learning in economic policy studies and natural language processing in economic texts.
Central Bank of Oman 2026-02-11
Central Bank of Oman hosts Fifth Regional Network of Central Banks conference with the World Bank Group to strengthen research for policy-making
The Central Bank of Oman, with the World Bank Group, is hosting the Fifth Conference of the Regional Network of Central Banks on 11–12 February. The event aims to enhance scientific research in economic and financial policy and build research capacity in the region. Key topics include economic resilience, fiscal and monetary policy redesign, and the impact of technological advancements like AI and big data on macroeconomic strategies.