This report on managing government finances for growth and poverty reduction in Lesotho is centered on three areas of analysis: (i) macroeconomic and fiscal performance and prospects; (ii) inter and intra-sectoral allocation of resources; and (iii) public expenditure and financial management. A...

Mexico needs a comprehensive fiscal reform to alleviate the looming medium-term pressures on its budget. This policy note contributes to the debate on Mexico's looming fiscal challenges. The country's fiscal framework, centered on the 2006 budget and fiscal responsibility law, and prudent fiscal...

Run by dictators for over 20 years (1964-1985), Brazil only had a democratic constitution promulgated in 1998 that allowed an already active civil society to function more freely. A country of 156 million, Brazil has been dubbed one of the most unequal, with one of the largest numbers of poor...

As a follow-up to the first Public Expenditure Review (PER), this note reviews fiscal management by the Government of National Unity (GoNU) through 2008 budget performance, including pro-poor spending, and how do its main features compare to the fiscal management under the first phase of the...

"Tax expenditures, in the form of tax provisions, are government expenditures. They are conceptually and functionally distinct from those tax provisions whose purpose is to raise revenue. Tax expenditure programs are comparable to entitlement programs. Therefore, tax expenditures must be...

"Using data collected during several missions, Zafar finds that the principal reasons for low revenue mobilization are (1) the adverse fiscal impact of trade liberalization, (2) the defiscalization of agriculture in the 1970s, (3) the collapse of the uranium boom in the 1980s, and (4) the poor...