Download or read book The Impact of Fiscal Consolidations on Growth in Sub Saharan Africa written by Francisco Arizala and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2017-12-15 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper examines the output effects of changes in public expenditure and revenue in sub-Saharan African countries during 1990–2016. Fiscal multipliers in sub-Saharan Africa are somewhat smaller than those in advanced and emerging economies. The effect of changes in fiscal policy on output depends on the composition: cutting public investment has a larger effect on output than cutting public consumption or raising revenue. Episodes of fiscal consolidation have short- and medium-term output effects, but here, too, composition matters: fiscal consolidations based on reducing public investment have the largest effect on output, while fiscal consolidations based on revenue mobilization are less harmful than those based on public investment cuts. These findings suggest that the negative impact on growth can be mitigated through the design of fiscal adjustment and the accompanying policy environment.

Download or read book Exiting From Fragility in sub Saharan Africa written by Corinne Deléchat and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2015-12-22 with total page 46 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper studies the role of fiscal policies and institutions in building resilience in sub-Saharan African countries during 1990-2013, with specific emphasis on a group of twenty-six countries that were deemed fragile in the 1990s. As the drivers of fragility and resilience are closely intertwined, we use GMM estimation as well as a probabilistic framework to address endogeneity and reverse causality. We find that fiscal institutions and fiscal space, namely the capacity to raise tax revenue and contain current spending, as well as lower military spending and, to some extent, higher social expenditure, are significantly and fairly robustly associated with building resilience. Similar conclusions arise from a study of the progression of a group of seven out of the twenty-six sub- Saharan African countries that managed to build resilience after years of civil unrest and/or violent conflict. These findings suggest relatively high returns to focusing on building sound fiscal institutions in fragile states. The international community can help this process through policy advice, technical assistance, and training on tax administration and budget reforms.

Download or read book Regional Economic Outlook October 2017 Sub Saharan Africa written by International Monetary Fund. African Dept. and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2017-11-27 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Growth in sub-Saharan Africa has recovered relative to 2016, but the momentum is weak and per capita incomes are expected to barely increase. Further, vulnerabilities have risen in many countries, adding to the urgency of implementing the fiscal consolidations planned in most countries and with stepped up efforts to strengthen growth.

Download or read book Regional Economic Outlook October 2017 Sub Saharan Africa written by International Monetary Fund. African Dept. and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2017-11-27 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Growth in sub-Saharan Africa has recovered relative to 2016, but the momentum is weak and per capita incomes are expected to barely increase. Further, vulnerabilities have risen in many countries, adding to the urgency of implementing the fiscal consolidations planned in most countries and with stepped up efforts to strengthen growth.

Download or read book Fiscal Policy in Sub Saharan Africa in Response to the Impact of the Global Crisis written by Norbert Funke and published by INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND. This book was released on 2009-05-14 with total page 18 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Adjustment and Growth in Sub Saharan Africa written by Mr.Anupam Basu and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 1999-04-01 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper analyzes the factors affecting economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa, using data for 1981–97. The results indicate that per capita real GDP growth is positively influenced by economic policies that raise the ratio of private investment to GDP, promote human capital development, lower the ratio of the budget deficit to GDP, safeguard external competitiveness, and stimulate export volume growth. The favorable evolution of these variables played an important role in the region’s apparent postreform recovery of 1995–97. The paper also discusses a policy framework to promote sustainable economic growth and reduce poverty in sub-Saharan Africa

Download or read book Growth in Sub Saharan Africa written by Mr.Dhaneshwar Ghura and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 1995-12-01 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The paper investigates empirically the determinants of economic growth for a large sample of sub-Saharan African countries during 1981-92. The results indicate that (i) an increase in private investment has a relatively large positive impact on per capita growth; (ii) growth is stimulated by public policies that lower the budget deficit in relation to GDP (without reducing government investment), reduce the rate of inflation, maintain external competitiveness, promote structural reforms, encourage human capital development, and slow population growth; and (iii) convergence of per capita income occurs after controlling for human capital development and public policies.

Download or read book Promoting Growth in Sub Saharan Africa written by Mr.Anupam Basu and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2000-10-02 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Africa is the world’s poorest continent, but amid all the bad news, there is hope for change. This pamphlet examines the lessons to be learned from some of the more successful economies south of the Sahara, and discusses a policy framework to promote sustainable economic growth and reduce poverty across the region.

Download or read book Cyclical Patterns of Government Expenditures in Sub Saharan Africa written by Victor Duarte Lledo and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2009-12-01 with total page 33 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper documents cyclical patterns of government expenditures in sub-Saharan Africa since 1970 and explains variation between countries and over time. Controlling for endogeneity, it finds government expenditures to be slightly more procyclical in sub-Saharan Africa than in other developing countries and some evidence that procyclicality in Africa has declined in recent years after a period of sharp increase through the 1990s. Greater fiscal space, proxied by lower external debt, and better access to concessional financing, proxied by larger aid flows, seem to be important factors in diminishing procyclicality in the region. The role of institutions is less clear cut: changes in political institutions have no impact on procyclicality.

Download or read book Tax Revenue in Sub Saharan Africa written by Dhaneshwar Ghura and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 1998-09 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Large fiscal deficits have been a daunting problem for a number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa over the past several years. Rapid expansions in expenditure and declining or low revenue levels have been the main cause of fiscal imbalances.2 Recent endogenous growth models have demonstrated that growth can be enhanced by, inter alia, reducing fiscal imbalances, which, in turn, can be achieved by either lowering expenditure or raising revenue.3 However, many countries in the region have reduced expenditure to minimum sustainable levels, especially in health, education, and infrastructure. Thus, raising tax revenue to achieve fiscal sustainability would be a feasible alternative. Also, in order to improve the environment for private sector development and sustained economic growth, governments need to play a supportive role by investing in physical and human capital, and institutional infrastructure. Tax revenue is needed for such expenditure if inflationary financing and the crowding out of the private sector are to be avoided (Hamada, 1994).

Download or read book Growth Breaks and Growth Spells in Sub Saharan Africa written by Francisco Arizala and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2017-09-08 with total page 37 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper examines the growth performance of sub-Saharan African countries since 1960 through the lens of growth turning points (accelerations and decelerations) and periods of sustained growth (growth spells). Growth accelerations are generally associated with improved external conditions, increased investment and trade openness, declines in inflation, better fiscal balances, and improvements in the institutional environment. Transitioning from growth accelerations to growth spells often requires additional efforts beyond what is needed to trigger an acceleration. Growth spells are sustained by fiscal policy that prevents excessive public debt accumulation, monetary policy geared toward low inflation, outward-oriented trade policies, and structural policies that reduce market distortions, as well as supportive external environment and improvements in democratic institutions. Overall, determinants of growth spells in sub-Saharan Africa are different from those in the rest of the emerging and developing countries.

Download or read book Lessons for Effective Fiscal Decentralization in Sub Saharan Africa written by Mr.Niko A Hobdari and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2018-07-06 with total page 63 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fiscal decentralization is becoming a pressing issue in a number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa, reflecting demands for a greater local voice in spending decisions and efforts to strengthen social cohesion. Against this backdrop, this paper seeks to distill the lessons for an effective fiscal decentralization reform, focusing on the macroeconomic aspects. The main findings for sub-Saharan African countries that have decentralized, based on an empirical analysis and four case studies (Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda), are as follows: • Determinants and effectiveness: Empirical results suggest that (1) the major driving forces behind fiscal decentralization in sub-Saharan Africa include efforts to defuse ethnic conflicts, the initial level of income, and the urban-ization rate, whereas strength of democracy is not an important determi-nant for decentralization; and (2) decentralization in sub-Saharan Africa is associated with higher growth in the presence of stronger institutions. • Spending assignments: The allocation of spending across levels of gov-ernment in the four case studies is broadly consistent with best practice. However, in Uganda, unlike in the other three case studies, subnational governments have little flexibility to make spending decisions as a result of a deconcentrated rather than a devolved system of government. • Own revenue: The assignment of taxing powers is broadly in line with best practice in the four case studies, with the bulk of subnational revenue coming from property taxes and from fees for local services. However, own revenues are a very small fraction of subnational spending, reflecting weak cadaster systems and a high level of informality in the economy.

Download or read book Sustaining and Accelerating Pro Poor Growth in Africa written by Mr.Kevin Joseph Carey and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2006-02-28 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Growth in sub-Saharan Africa has recently shown signs of improvement, but is still short of levels needed to attain the Millennium Development Goals. Economists have placed increasing emphasis on understanding the policies that promote sustained jumps in medium-term growth, and the paper applies this approach to African countries. The evidence presented finds an important growth-supporting role for particular kinds of institutions and policies, but also highlights aspects of growth that are still not well understood. The paper includes policy guidance for ensuring that the poor benefit from growth.

Download or read book Mobilizing Revenue in Sub Saharan Africa written by Mr.Paulo Drummond and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2012-05-01 with total page 74 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mobilizing more revenue is a priority for sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. Countries have to finance their development agendas, and weak revenue mobilization is the root cause of fiscal imbalances in several countries. This paper reviews the experience of low-income SSA countries in mobilizing revenue in recent decades, with two broad aims: identify empirical norms of how much and how fast countries have been able to mobilize more revenue and empirical determinants (panel estimates) of revenue mobilization. The paper finds that (i) the frequency distribution of changes in revenue ratios for SSA low-income countries (LICs) peaks at a pace of about 1⁄2-2 percentage points of GDP in the short-to-medium term and at a pace of about 2-31⁄2 percentage points of GDP over the longer term, and that (ii) almost all SSA-LICs managed to increase revenue ratios by more than 2 percentage points of GDP in the short-to-medium term, at least once in the last two decades. The sustainability of large increases in revenue ratios can be an issue, in particular for fragile countries. The panel estimates suggest that structural factors, such as per capita GDP, share of agriculture in GDP, inflation, degree of openness, and rents received from natural resources, are important determinants of tax revenue.

Download or read book Post Covid 19 Recovery and Resilience Leveraging Reforms for Growth and Inclusion in Sub Saharan Africa written by Mrs.Paola Ganum and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2021-02-19 with total page 33 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Covid-19 has exacerbated economic and social vulnerabilities across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). There is a risk that growth could be lower for longer, with a setback to development. Post-pandemic reforms thus become even more important, especially with constrained scope for fiscal and monetary stimuli. Reforms could boost per capita growth by an additional 0.3-1.3 percentage points, relative to the 1.9 percent average since 2010. Such growth would reduce per capita income doubling time from 37 years to about 22 years. Low-income countries stand to gain the most from reforms. The largest gains come from governance, products markets, and factor accumulation. Importantly, these reforms can be implemented in the post-pandemic environment characterized by weaker social and distributional outcomes.

Download or read book Cyclical Behavior of Fiscal Policy among Sub Saharan African Countries written by Mr.Tetsuya Konuki and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2016-08-24 with total page 39 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excessively procyclical fiscal policy can be harmful. This paper investigates to what extent the fiscal policies of sub-Saharan African countries were procyclical in recent years and the reasons for the degree of fiscal procyclicality among these countries. It finds that a tendency for procyclical fiscal policy was particularly pronounced among oil exporters and after the global financial crisis. It also finds a statistically significant causal link running from deeper financial markets and higher reserves coverage to lower fiscal policy procyclicality. Fiscal rules supported by strong political commitment and institutions seem to be key to facilitating progress for deeper financial markets and stronger reserves coverage.

Download or read book Fiscal Consolidation After COVID 19 Issues and Policy Options in Sub Saharan Africa written by Vedanth Nair and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The COVID-19 pandemic has hit sub-Saharan African economies hard, exacerbating debt and debt servicing cost issues that a range of countries in the region - including Ghana and Nigeria - already faced. This report examines the fiscal context in sub-Saharan Africa and the issues and options for potential post-COVID-19 fiscal consolidation efforts. Since Spring 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has had significant impacts on the public finances of both developed and developing countries. Falls in revenues and increases in public expenditure have pushed up deficits and debts, posing a particular challenge for many countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). After the debt relief of the 2000s, the 2010s saw public debt and debt-servicing costs grow substantially across the region, with the fiscal situation looking increasingly unsustainable in some countries even prior to the pandemic. This difficult context may be one reason why the scale of discretionary tax and spending policy measures undertaken in response to the pandemic has generally been much smaller than in high-income countries. This report sets out the trends and forecasts for budget deficits, debts and debt-servicing costs in SSA, and provides an overview of the issues and options for potential post-COVID-19 fiscal consolidation efforts.