This paper reviews Niger’s Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) Paper Progress Report. After more than two years of implementation, the PRS has truly become established as the overall framework for the various sectoral strategies in existence or being devised. Moreover, it has been used to...

This report reviews the Observance of Standards and Codes on Fiscal Transparency for Belarus. Belarus meets the requirements of the fiscal transparency code in some important areas. There is a comprehensive legal and administrative framework for management of budget resources. The Budget systems...

Fiscal decentralization is likely to entail a bias in the budget process toward higher public expenses and deficits. The paper reviews lessons drawn from the theoretical literature and international experience on the design of intergovernmental relations. The institutional setup should address...

We study the effects of electoral institutions on the size and composition of public expenditure in OECD and Latin American countries. We present a model emphasizing the distinction between purchases of goods and services, which are easier to target geographically, and transfers, which are...

This paper investigates if there are circumstances where time-varying tax rates could improve welfare and whether such policy can effectively be implemented in practice. While, in principle, variable taxes could improve welfare in some cases, the paper highlights the very particular...

The reform of fiscal policies and institutions lies at the heart of structural adjustment in developing countries. Although the immediate aim of such reform is to reduce fiscal imbalances to achieve macroeconomic stability, the long-term goal is to secure more durable improvements in fiscal...

The paper surveys the role of financial markets and fiscal institutions in the transformation process going on in Eastern and Central Europe. It highlights (a) the need to create some sort of “social ecological balance” necessary for the working of a modern market economy; (b) the need to...