The Bank of Uganda Deputy Governor, Louis Kasekende has hailed the great work being done by economic researchers, maintaining that their work does a lot in influencing policy makers to make developmental decisions.

"Although there are mutual benefits between academic research and policy makers, it is important for researchers to maintain independence," Kasekende said at the 17th Annual Conference of the African Econometric Society in Kampala on July 25, adding they (the researchers) should not be too close to policymakers if they are to maintain their academic independence.

The theme of the conference was "econometric analysis and policy challenges in Africa". Kasekende said the theme was close to his own heart as a central banker, "because I am frequently faced with having to make policy decisions in circumstances in which our knowledge of critical relationships in the economy - for example the relationships which underlie the monetary transmission mechanism - is somewhat rudimentary," he explained.