Finance plays a vital role in economic development. The functioning of an economy depends on the financial system of a country. The financial system includes banks as a central entity along with other financial services providers. The government of Ethiopia has long recognized the crucial role of development finance and the need to create a modern financial system suited to the development of the country. Cognizant of this, the Policy Study Institute (PSI) has recently established a full-fledged center: the Banking and Finance Policy Research Centre. The center is established with the principal objective of undertaking high-quality scientific policy research and policy analysis in the field of banking and finance. It provides the government with knowledge-based inputs for policymaking and policy implementation. It reviews the existing financial policies, and proposes new policies to the government. It also aims to address the emerging trends in the financial sector of the country. The major thematic areas of the center include development finance, contractual savings (insurance, pension, and housing), capital market development, private Equity and venture capital finance, international remittances.

The Trade Policy Research Center (TPRC) is one of the centers under the Macroeconomic and Finance Sector at the Policy Studies Institute (PSI). The center is primarily focused on conducting rigorous policy relevant research works on questions pertinent to local as well as international trade and investment issues of relevance to Ethiopia. Specifically, it studies economic impacts of policies affecting trade and applies economic modeling tools to analyze potential impacts of ongoing regional and international trade agreements that the country is acceding to. Apart from this, researchers in the center collaborate with researchers inside and outside of the institute to conduct independent research on a range of policy relevant issues.

The Environment and Climate Research Centre (ECRC) at the Policy Studies Institute (PSI) aims to conduct high quality and rigorous policy-oriented research on the economics of climate and the environment, natural resource and sustainable development as well as undertake real-time impact evaluation studies of climate-related interventions and policies, with a focus on the implementation of the Climate Resilient Green Economy strategy outlined by the Ethiopian government. It also aims to provide evidence-based policy advice, compile and disseminate knowledge and data, serve as a research-policy interaction hub, and contribute to capacity building on the economics of climate change and the environment. The Policy Research and Impact Evaluation program of the Centre spans six research themes, addressing: Sustainable Agriculture, Sustainable Energy Transitions, Sustainable Water Resources Management, Sustainable Forest Management, Sustainable Industrialization, and Sustainable Urbanization. The Centre has about 16 full-time staff and two part-time staff. Six staffs are Senior Research Fellows. The Centre also serves as the Environment for Development Initiative (EfD) for Ethiopia.