From July 28th to August 6th, 2025, the International Food Policy Research Institute conducted a one-week hands on training on Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) modelling in Washington D.C, USA. This workshop, which built on the first session held in March 2025 in Brisbane, was attended by five delegates from Papua New Guinea’s Department of National Planning and Monitoring and the Department of Treasury of Papua New Guinea. The training focused on applying the CGE models to evaluate policy trade offs and analyze the impacts of various investments proposed in the Medium-Term Development Plan IV (MTDP IV). With specific focus on informing the upcoming 2026 budget, economic simulations were carried out for four key sectors including – agriculture, energy, transport and telecommunication. Participants learned how to refine macroeconomic models and draw relevant insights to support decision making in PNG.
Through interactive sessions and practical exercise, participants were guided through all stages of CGE modelling. They were introduced to the CGE framework and the GAMS software interface, followed by data preparation and calibration. This included gathering background information by referencing published literature and relevant databases to establish baseline data, enabling projections of specific interventions.
Working in collaboration with senior researchers from IFPRI, participants reviewed the MTDP-IV and other published sources to provide evidence-based details on major investments, proposed budget allocations and targeted regions. Using the data gathered, they ran simulations of different policy scenarios and interpreted the impacts on GDP growth, job creation and poverty reduction. In doing so, they were able identify the winners of each sector in both short and long run and link these results to applicable policy actions.
