This paper describes the institutional changes that have induced a decline in the vertical fiscal imbalance (VFI) - defined as the share of sub-national own spending not financed through own revenues - in four European countries: Belgium, Italy, Norway, and Spain. The decline in VFI was achieved...

The public sector in Peru is clearly distinguished from the rest of the economy, but the existence of various legal and statistical definitions of the government makes it difficult to demarcate it clearly from the rest of the public sector. The recent constitutional reform has strengthened the...

Fiscal decentralization is likely to entail a bias in the budget process toward higher public expenses and deficits. The paper reviews lessons drawn from the theoretical literature and international experience on the design of intergovernmental relations. The institutional setup should address...

This report reviews the Observance of Standards and Codes on Fiscal Transparency for Belarus. Belarus meets the requirements of the fiscal transparency code in some important areas. There is a comprehensive legal and administrative framework for management of budget resources. The Budget systems...

Fiscal Responsibility Laws (FRLs) appear to be more popular in middle-income countries than advanced countries, even though their success is limited. The reasons why few advanced countries have a FRL include: the existing legal framework for the budget system is adequate; supranational rules and...

Fiscal problems have long been considered a central feature of financial--that is, currency, debt, and banking--crises. This paper addresses four questions: What are the fiscal causes of crises? Which fiscal vulnerability indicators help to predict crises? Can fiscal variables explain the...

This Selected Issues paper for Ireland highlights that fiscal consolidation resulted in a tremendous reduction in public debt from nearly 100 percent of GDP in 1991 to about 30 percent in 2004. This has reflected a combination of policy decisions and economic circumstances. Excluding 2001, when...

This paper analyzes the Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes on fiscal transparency for the United States. It assesses fiscal transparency practices in the United States against the requirements of the IMF Code of Good Practices on Fiscal Transparency. It reviews the description of...

Nigeria’s 2002 Article IV Consultation highlights that major macroeconomic imbalances had emerged as a result of sharp increases in government spending and expressed concern at the risks of a further acceleration of inflation and continuing instability in the exchange market. The overall...

This Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes on Fiscal Transparency on El Salvador reviews the fiscal transparency module. El Salvador needs to make progress on a number of important aspects of the code on fiscal transparency. It is also important to clarify the distribution of functions...