Chapter 1 of the report draws some early lessons from governments' fiscal responses to the pandemic and provides a roadmap for the recovery. Governments' measures to cushion the blow from the pandemic total a staggering USD 12 trillion globally. These lifelines and the worldwide recession have...

At a time when job creation tops the policy agenda globally, this issue of the Fiscal Monitor explores if and how fiscal policy can do more for jobs. It finds that while fiscal policy cannot substitute for comprehensive reforms, it can support job creation in a number of ways. First, deficit...

Continued progress in reducing advanced economy deficits and a gradually improving external environment have lowered short-term fiscal risks, according to this issue, but global prospects nevertheless remain subdued, and many advanced economies face a lengthy, difficult, and uncertain path to...

This technical assistance report on Costa Rica discusses upgrading the rule-based fiscal framework. A principles-based classification would allay political pressure for ad-hoc exclusions. The criteria should follow the statistical principles of the Government Finance Statistics Manual: entities...

Overall, fiscal risks remain elevated, according to this issue, although there are signs that in some key respects they are less acute than six months ago. Past efforts with fiscal consolidation are beginning to bear fruit, particularly when buttressed by credible institutional commitments....