Download or read book Public Expenditure Policies in Southeast Europe written by Ivailo V. Izvorski and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2008-02-20 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The countries of Southeast Europe have undergone a significant transition over the past decade. Helped by macroeconomic stabilization and efforts in advancing structural reforms, real GDP growth has picked up this century. Fiscal adjustment has been an integral part of the transition. Expenditure cuts have helped trim spending relative to GDP in most countries in the region and cut fiscal deficits everywhere except in Serbia. Progress in fiscal consolidation has been substantial, but in several of the countries the government's presence in the economy remains oversized. Costs related to advancing EU integration and completing reforms are expected to generate further pressures for public spending. Creating the fiscal space for addressing such pressures would require a further reduction in existing spending, given that there is still scope for increasing tax rates. The report identifies key remaining challenges and proposes a menu of options in further reforms in sectors that account for the largest shares of public spending, and where reforms are likely to have significant budgetary implications. The sectors discussed in the report are social protection, health, education, public administration, and infrastructure.

Download or read book Public Expenditure Policies in Southeast Europe written by and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 79 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Public Expenditure Policies in Southeast Europe written by Weltbank and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The countries of Southeastern Europe (SEE) and the province of Kosovo (thereafter, Kosovo) have undergone a significant, though difficult, transition over the past decade. Series of conflicts in the region have complicated the transition process, which in the initial phase focused on macroeconomic stabilization and reconstruction. Helped by macroeconomic stability and efforts in advancing structural reforms, real Gross Domestic Product, or GDP growth in region has picked up this century, averaging 5.8 percent during 2000-2006, although it has still lagged the pace in both the more advanced reformers and the average for emerging Asia. In addition to boosting living standards, the SEE countries' shared aspiration to advance European Union (EU) integration has been increasingly shaping the reform agenda. This report reviews the level, composition and outcomes of government spending and distills some of the lessons that emerge from efforts by the SEE countries in reforming expenditure policies. The report identifies key remaining challenges and proposes a broad menu of options in further reforms of sectors that account for the largest shares of public spending across the countries, and where reforms are likely to have significant budgetary implications. This has motivated the choice of sectors discussed in the report: social protection (including pensions), health, education, public administration and infrastructure.

Download or read book Expenditure Policies Toward EU Accession written by Bernard Funck and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2002-01-01 with total page 126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Expenditure Policies Toward EU Accession' presents the set of public expenditures that could be conducive to rapid growth and convergence among the Central and Eastern European countries. This report assesses public expenditure policy objectives and provides best practice and lessons learned in designing expenditure reforms within these countries. It also highlights ways in which key expenditure programs such as education, environment, and transport can be redirected so as to be more fully supportive of growth objectives.

Download or read book Government Expenditure and Economic Growth in the EU written by Alfonso Arpaia and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recoge: 1. Introduction - 2. Empirical strategy and data - 3. Panel unit root tests and cointegration analysis - 4. Heterogeneous panel ECM estimation - 5. Robustness analysis - 6. Implications for policy - 7. Concluding remarks.

Download or read book Fiscal Deficit and Public Debt in the Western Balkans written by Zsoka Koczan and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2015-07-24 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this paper we analyze how Western Balkans public finances adapted to the boom-bust cycle. Large capital inflows into emerging European economies during the mid-2000s resulted in rapid economic growth and convergence to EU income levels. This also resulted in improved fiscal positions of most countries, on the back of strong revenue performance. Yet, since the onset of the global economic crisis, many countries have struggled to adjust to the new situation of lower external financing and lower growth.

Download or read book Fiscal Consolidation in Southeastern European Countries written by Mr.Brian Olden and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2012-05-01 with total page 89 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper assesses the relative strengths and weaknesses of fiscal institutions in ten Southeastern European countries, using recent benchmarking methodologies developed by FAD. The assessment evaluates each country’s understanding of the scale of the fiscal adjustment challenge, its ability to develop a credible consolidation strategy, and its capacity to implement the strategy. Key institutional arrangements, are generally in place, including top-down budgeting and medium-term budget frameworks. Other institutional arrangements require further attention, including macro-fiscal forecasting, fiscal risk analysis, setting fiscal objectives, presence and role of independent fiscal agencies, and top-down parliamentary approval.

Download or read book The Quality of Public Expenditures in the EU written by European Commission. Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recoge: Composition and quality of public expenditures in the EU - Improving the efficiency of public expenditure - Growth-enhancing and high-quality expenditure in the EU budgetary framework - A way forward for the assessment of quality of public expenditures in the EU.

Download or read book Access to Education for the Poor in Europe and Central Asia written by Nancy Vandycke and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2001-01-01 with total page 58 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper focuses on the long-term benefits of education. It also examines the supply of education, the short-term incentives to invest in education for the poor, and draws on the policy implications. This paper also stresses the need to study further the determinants of school enrollment among the poor.

Download or read book Competitiveness and Private Sector Development Competitiveness in South East Europe A Policy Outlook 2018 written by OECD and published by OECD Publishing. This book was released on 2018-04-24 with total page 706 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Future economic development and the well-being of citizens in South East Europe (SEE) increasingly depend on greater economic competitiveness. Realising the region’s economic potential requires a holistic, growth-oriented policy approach. Against the backdrop of enhanced European Union (EU) ...

Download or read book Public Expenditure Control in Europe written by Milagros García Crespo and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2005-01-01 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents a comprehensive analysis of public expenditure control in Europe and the coordination strategies available. It provides a detailed scrutiny of the various audit systems in the EU and the difficulties in building consistency or harmony between them. The book demonstrates how successful strategies should aim to strengthen the collaboration between different layers of government at the EU, national and regional levels. The authors illustrate how effective cooperation between Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) is one of the starting points for any rational system of external control of Europe's public finances. However, this cooperation must be founded upon respect for the independence and operating mandate of each SAI and for their different organizational and operational procedures. Importantly, the authors analyse three critical phenomena that determine the present context in which SAIs develop their activities. integration and state decentralization taking place in Europe; the growing demand for transparency, accountability and external control; and the more complex situations created by the loss of a clear distinction between the private and public sectors. The book also offers detailed country studies of audit functions and how they are developed and interpreted, and examines coordination strategies in the context of fraud, auditing, reporting and harmonization.

Download or read book Managing Public Expenditure A Reference Book for Transition Countries written by OECD and published by OECD Publishing. This book was released on 2001-03-20 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Managing Public Expenditure presents a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of all aspects of public expenditure management from the preparation of the budget to the execution, control and audit stages.

Download or read book HIV Aids in the Western Balkans written by and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2005-01-01 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years, Europe and Central Asia has experienced the world's fastest growing HIV/AIDS epidemic. Yet, in the Western Balkan countries the HIV prevalence rate is under 0.1 percent, which ranks among the lowest. This may be due to a low level of infection among the population--or partly due to inadequate surveillance systems. All major contributing factors for the breakout of an HIV/AIDS epidemic are present in the Western Balkans. HIV/AIDS disproportionably affects youth (80 percent of HIV-infected people are 30 years old or younger). Most of the Western Balkan countries have very young p.

Download or read book Emigration and Its Economic Impact on Eastern Europe written by Mr.Ruben V Atoyan and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2016-07-20 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper analyses the impact of large and persistent emigration from Eastern European countries over the past 25 years on these countries’ growth and income convergence to advanced Europe. While emigration has likely benefited migrants themselves, the receiving countries and the EU as a whole, its impact on sending countries’ economies has been largely negative. The analysis suggests that labor outflows, particularly of skilled workers, lowered productivity growth, pushed up wages, and slowed growth and income convergence. At the same time, while remittance inflows supported financial deepening, consumption and investment in some countries, they also reduced incentives to work and led to exchange rate appreciations, eroding competiveness. The departure of the young also added to the fiscal pressures of already aging populations in Eastern Europe. The paper concludes with policy recommendations for sending countries to mitigate the negative impact of emigration on their economies, and the EU-wide initiatives that could support these efforts.

Download or read book Competitiveness and Private Sector Development Competitiveness in South East Europe A Policy Outlook written by OECD and published by OECD Publishing. This book was released on 2016-02-26 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Future economic development and the wellbeing of citizens in South East Europe (SEE) depend more than ever on greater economic competitiveness. To underpin the drive to improve competitiveness and foster private investment, an integrated policy approach is needed.

Download or read book Macroprudential Policies in Southeastern Europe written by Dilyana Dimova and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2016-02-15 with total page 81 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper presents a detailed account of the rich set of macroprudential measures taken in four Southeastern European countries—Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, and Serbia—during their synchronized boom and bust cycles in 2003–12, and assesses their effectiveness. We find that only strong measures helped contain domestic credit growth, the share of foreigncurrency- denominated loans provided by the domestic banking sector, or the domestic banking sector’s reliance on foreign borrowing during the boom years. We also find that circumvention via direct external borrowing often fully offset the effectiveness of these strict measures, and thatmeasures taken during the bust had no discernible impact. We conclude that (i) proper calibration of macroprudential measures is of the essence; (ii) only strong, broad-based macroprudential measures can contain credit booms; (iii) econometric studies of macroprudential policy effectiveness should focus on measures rather than on instruments (i.e. classes of measures) and in so doing allow for possible non-linear and state-contingent effects.

Download or read book The Eastern Caribbean Economic and Currency Union written by Mr.Alfred Schipke and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2013-04-10 with total page 546 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Eastern Caribbean Economic and Currency Union (OECS/ECCU) is one of four currency unions in the world. As in other parts of the world in the aftermath of the global economic and financial crisis, the region is at a crossroads, facing the major challenges of creating jobs, making growth more inclusive, reforming the banking system, and managing volatility, while grappling with high public debt and persistent low economic growth. Policymakers have the critical task of implementing strong reforms to strengthen the monetary union while also laying the foundation for accelerating growth. This Handbook provides a comprehensive analysis of the key issues in the OECS/ECCU, including its organization and economic and financial sector linkages, and provides policy recommendations to foster economic growth.