Creating Fiscal Space for Poverty Reduction in Ecuador: A Fiscal Management and Public Expenditure Review

The last Public Expenditure Review for Ecuador (PER) was produced in 1993. More than a decade later, the purpose of this report is to provide the Ecuadorian authorities with the World Bank's and Inter-American Development Bank's joint comprehensive account of their diagnoses and recommendations in the area of fiscal management and public expenditure. This report consists of two volumes. This first volume examines whether, and how, the core goals of public expenditure management, i.e., balanced fiscal aggregates, resource allocations to strategic sectors, and equity and microeconomic efficiency of public spending are met in Ecuador. Volume II presents sector studies on fiscal sustainability, the fiscal rules, education, health, pensions, the results of a national teachers' tracking survey, water and sanitation, electricity, telecommunications and oil.