"The authors describe the main trends of Brazil's fiscal policy during the past decade and analyze (1) the ability to raise the primary surplus in response to external shocks, (2) the pro-cyclical nature of fiscal policy, and (3) the long-run impact of government expenditure composition and...

"The authors explore the relationship between fiscal rules and capital budgeting. The current budgetary approach to limit deficits to a fixed portion of GDP or to balance budgets could undermine incentives to invest in public capital with long-run returns since politicians concerned about...

"This paper discusses trends in fiscal adjustment in Brazil since the 1990s, with particular emphasis on the strengthening of institutions for fiscal policymaking, and its effect on local government finances and their ability to invest in infrastructure building and upgrading. Although fiscal...

Armenia's structural reforms since 1999 have led to a strong economic record, including low fiscal deficits and declining public debt over the pre-crisis decade. Between 2001 and 2008 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at an average annual rate of 12 percent and poverty fell from over 50 percent...

Ghana has experienced an extended period of robust growth since the early 2000s, supported by a favorable external environment and large investment inflows, particularly in the extractive industries. In 2011, as the start of oil production drove a surge in per capita income, Ghana graduated from...

The Nigeria Public Finance Review is part of a programmatic effort of fiscal analytics that the World Bank is conducting with the Nigerian government. Ongoing analyses is shared as presentations and technical notes in a continuous dialogue. The emphasis is on establishing a baseline...

How the government of Maldives chooses to spend state revenues has consequences for the country's future Decisions on what, where, how, and how much governments spend on have a significant impact on a country's growth and development. Allocating resources efficiently and effectively across...

Guinea-Bissau's large public sector wage bill poses a major threat to the country's macroeconomic stability: it hampers growth, limits the government's ability to service the domestic and external debt, and crowds out private investments. For this reason, the government decided in early 2006 to...

Recent economic performance in The Gambia was extremely poor, and undermined efforts to implement the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). Laxity in fiscal and monetary policies, and low agricultural production resulted in low growth, high inflation, and rapid depreciation of the domestic...