Organizers: Nicola Viegi and Vincent Dadam (University of Pretoria, SAMNET) Our 3rd Virtual SAMNet Workshop explored the latest developments in macroeconomics and was followed by a Policy Panel Discussion. Workshop In particular, the workshop delved into innovations regarding exchange rate behaviour, expectations, the inflation target and instruments of monetary policy. We were joined by two keynote speakers: Jenny Tang Jenny Tang is a senior economist in the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Research Department. Her research interests include macroeconomics, monetary policy, and international finance. She earned her BS in economics and international business at New York University and her MA and PhD in economics at Harvard University. Christiane Baumeister Christiane Baumeister is the Robert and Irene Bozonne Professor and Associate Chair at the University of Notre Dame; a Research Affiliate at the Centre for Economic Policy Research and has been a visiting research scholar at the International Monetary Fund, the Banque de France, the University of California at San Diego, and the NIPE research center in economics and a Principal Researcher in the International Economic Analysis Department at the Bank of Canada. You can find the presentations on the playlist below: The program of the Workshop was as follows:

• SAMNet Introduction to Code Sharing: Learn about code sharing.
• Session 1: Bernard Njiri (University of Stellenbosch) Financial Openness and External Adjustment in Emerging and Frontier Market Economies Download slides.
• Session 2: Cyril Dell’Eva (University of Pretoria) Foreign Exchange Imbalances: A Markov-Switching Approach for South Africa Download slides.
• Session 3: Rick Walker (University of Stellenbosch) Apple Product Prices, the Law of One Price and Real Exchange Rate Dynamics Download slides.
• Session 4: Keynote speaker Jenny Tang (Federal Reserve Bank of Boston) A Fundamental Connection: Exchange Rates and Macroeconomic Expectations Download slides.
• Session 5: Monique Reid (University of Stellenbosch) Firm Level Expectations and Macroeconomic Conditions – Underpinning and Disagreement Download slides.
• Session 6: Keynote speaker Christiane Baumeister (University of Notre Dame) Measuring Market Expectations Download slides.
• Session 7: David de Villiers (University of Stellenbosch) Excess financial elasticity: The asymmetric effects of heterogeneous capital flows on the credit cycle Download slides.
• Session 8: Vincent Dadam (University of Pretoria) Hopeless Hysteresis: Investigating Unemployment Persistence in South Africa Download slides.

Policy Panel Discussion: Monetary Policy Framework in South Africa Quo Vadis? The Policy Panel Discussion, chaired by Matthew Simmonds, questioned whether the inflation target and monetary policy instruments are still appropriate for our monetary policy framework, and what impact lowering the inflation target may have. The panelists were as follows:

• Nicola Viegi (University of Pretoria; ERSA)
• Chris Loewald (SARB)
• Mamokete Lijane (ABSA Group)
• Yolande Smit (National Treasury)

You can find the Policy Panel Discussion below: