"In this paper, the authors describe South Africa's value added tax (VAT), showing that (1) the VAT is mildly regressive, and (2) it is an effective source of government revenue, compared with other tax instruments in South Africa. They evaluate the VAT in the context of other distortions in the...

The Financial System Assessment (FSA) is based on the work of the joint IMF-World Bank Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) Update mission to Georgia during February 15-28,2006. The principal objective of the FSAP Update was to assist the authorities in evaluating the potential...

A joint IMF and World Bank team conducted virtual missions to Georgia during January-February 2021 and May-June 2021, to update the findings of the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) conducted in 2014. This report summarizes the main findings of the mission, identifies key financial...

The Lao economy is projected to grow at 8 percent in 2013. The hydropower sector (both completed projects in operation and projects in the construction or development phase), construction, food processing, and services sectors remain the major contributors to this growth. Overall inflation has...

The aim of this note is to present and analyze subnational fiscal trends in Russia in the context of overall slowing economic growth and falling oil prices over the last few years. In particular, in 2015, GDP fell by 3.7 percent. Despite efforts to cut expenditures, the federal deficit increased...

The Philippine economy grew slower than expected at 3.7 percent in 2011, held back by weak public spending and external demand. In the fourth quarter (Q4), growth slightly improved at 3.7 percent. As in past quarters, growth was driven by remittance-fueled household consumption, which grew by...

"Noting that South Africa may be one of the few African countries that could contribute to mitigating climate change, the authors explore the impact of a carbon tax relative to alternative energy taxes on economic welfare. Using a disaggregate general-equilibrium model of the South African...

"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...