The 2009 Public Finance Review (PFR) has three chapters. The first deals with broad public finance topics such as aggregate fiscal management, efficient allocation of public spending, revenue performance, and trends and usage of external aid. The second chapter deals with how inflation affects...

The year 2000 was a turning point in Croatian history, marked by closing the chapter of the war and the first phase of transition. With that, the country turned its attention to the "second transition,"the principle goal of which is to place Croatia on a path to the European Union (EU). While...

The year 2000 was a turning point in Croatian history, marked by closing the chapter of the war and the first phase of transition. With that, the country turned its attention to the "second transition,"the principle goal of which is to place Croatia on a path to the European Union (EU). While...

Over the past twenty years, fiscal policy has become one of the three pillars of macroeconomic stability for Colombia, the other two being the flexible exchange rate and inflation targeting. The credibility and sustainability of fiscal policy is the result of strong institutions (in particular,...

Mexico's intergovernmental transfer system needs to reduce vertical imbalances and discretionary federal transfers. This note assesses Mexico's pending subnational fiscal reform agenda. Mexico is a federal country divided into 31 sovereign states and one federal district. Each state is composed...

Despite bold efforts to consolidate public finances, Ukraine's growth potential remains undermined by a large public sector, high public debt levels and inefficient provision of critical public services. The Ukraine government faces new public spending pressures which, if realized, would reverse...

Ethiopia Public Finance Review (PFR) is an analytical input to the regular Government-Donor dialogue on public finance and aid effectiveness. It forms the basis for policy focused analyses and sustained dialogue that facilitate close partnership and enhanced mutual accountability between...

The report assesses the performance of Thailand's fiscal institutions, in responding to the pressures of the economic crisis, and its likely performance in meeting the challenges of the new Constitution, and in modernizing the public sector. It builds on the analysis conducted to design the...

Unfavorable initial conditions, and extreme vulnerability to external shocks, as experienced by Moldova's economic transition, culminated in the 1998 regional financial crisis, which fostered the need for radical fiscal retrenchment, namely, reductions in social sectors expenditures. Currently,...

Bulgaria has traditionally adhered to fiscal discipline and prudent fiscal policy since the introduction of its currency board arrangement in mid-1997. After a gradual decline in the 2000s, public debt has remained among the lowest in the European Union (EU), hovering in a narrow band between 17...