We investigate the relation between changes in tax composition and long-run economic growth using a new dataset covering a broad cross-section of countries with different income levels. We specifically consider 69 countries with at least 20 years of observations on total tax revenue during the...

External shocks pose major challenges to fiscal policy makers through lower output and large fiscal imbalances. This paper analyzes the case of Moldova, which faced parallel crises a decade apart: the Russian crisis of 1998 and the global financial crisis of 2008-2009. The country went through...

We contribute to the intense debate on the real effects of fiscal stimuli by showing that the impact of government expenditure shocks depends crucially on key country characteristics, such as the level of development, exchange rate regime, openness to trade, and public indebtedness. Based on a...

Kuwait faced the global financial crisis from a position of strength, owing to expansionary fiscal stance. The economy is expected to grow steadily over the medium term as Kuwait continues to implement the development plan and global recovery supports demand for oil. The near-term macroeconomic...

Simulations with the Fund’s GIMF model show that raising government savings in New Zealand permanently by 1 percent of GDP is likely to improve the current account balance by about ½ percent of GDP. The way government savings are achieved matters for GDP but little for the current...

This paper examines the choice of government expenditure on public goods and transfer payments, in the form of a pension, in an overlapping generations model. Government expenditure is tax-financed on a pay-asyou- go basis. A utilitarian judge chooses expenditures to maximize a social welfare...