Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Mysteries of economics forecasting explained (Peru finance ministry edition)

El Comercio is today running this report on how Peru's Ministry of Economy and Finances (MEF) is forecasting the local currency, Peru's Nuevo Sol (PEN), to reach a foreign exchange rate of S/2.90 versus the US Dollar in 2012. The MEF forecast is part of its tome-like "MultiAnnual Macroeconomic Update" published last weekend.

Now this all sounds very, but very important and calculatory and I'm sure you're mystified as to which powerful algorithmic formulae those MEF suits are using to come to their extrapolated conclusions, so let's just explain how things really work chez Spongebob Carranza.

All you really need to make official economic forecasts like these are:

1) A chart ripped from Yahoo Finance
2) A straight-edged ruler

(click to enlarge)

Five minutes later you have your three year forecast for the national currency. Six minutes later you're off for that long lunchbreak you and your MEF colleagues so desperately deserved.

Cusqueña and canchita served. The end