The U.S. national savings rate has declined in the 1980s, with both public and private components falling. This paper discusses that decline and whether a policy response is needed. The drop in the private savings rate appears to reflect factors not easily reversible by policy and increases in...

Fiscal decentralization has been, and remains high on the policy agenda of many countries. It is mainly driven by political pressures, which tend to be especially evident in countries with multiple ethnicities, and/or wide regional disparities in incomes or resource endowments. More generally,...

Conventional wisdom postulates that there are benefits from decentralizing government finances but there is little empirical evidence about actual country practices. This paper presents data on fiscal decentralization for about 80 countries over a period of about 20 years (1990-2008) from the...

For the net administrative budget, the FY 16-18 medium-term budget (MTB) proposal includes: In FY 16, an unchanged budget envelope in real terms, for the fourth year in a row. To accommodate new and ongoing strategic priorities of the Fund within a flat envelope, efforts to reallocate resources...

The net administrative budget for FY2017 has been set at USD 1,072.5 million. After four years of zero real growth, the FY 2017 budget includes an increase of 1\2 percent in constant dollar terms to cover the institution's rising IT and physical security costs, as well as a small adjustment for...

At the request of the Italian Presidency of the G7, the IMF has prepared a paper on gender-budgeting as a contribution to the G7 initiative on equality. The paper provides an overview of gender-responsive budgeting concepts and practices in the G7 countries. It summarizes recent trends in gender...

The Fund has been operating under a flat real resource envelope for the past six years. With continued efforts to maximize the use of available resources, spending in FY 17 is projected to reach 99 percent of the net administrative budget, and a low vacancy rate has helped stabilize overtime at...

This paper responds to the Board's call for greater consistency in fiscal reporting in line with GFSM 2001. In this context, the paper summarizes the framework, reviews the implementation process of the GFSM 2001 framework by member countries and Fund staff, and proposes pilot studies. It seeks...

This paper aims to inform policymakers, and other interested parties, about the IMF's approach to fiscal adjustment. The approach focuses on the role of sound and sustainable government finances in promoting macroeconomic stability and growth. Achieving, and maintaining, such a fiscal position...