Government wage bills have been growing across the world, but are exceptionally high in the MENA region relative to countries' state of development, whether measured as a share of GDP, or of government revenue and spending (World Bank, 2004). Across the region government wage bills threaten...

The difficulty of pursuing a conventional market-oriented development strategy in the Palestinian territories led in the early part of the 2000s to a second-best reliance on public sector employment and wage bill expansion to boost aggregate demand. The main objective of this Programmatic Public...

This Public Expenditure Review (PER) was prepared at the request of Peru's Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF).The PER offers analysis, options for reform, and measures in selected areas and sectors to achieve efficiency gains and fiscal savings (where possible), while improving (at least not...

After more than a decade of strong growth, interrupted only by the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, Belarus' economy has encountered major headwinds. Since 2012, growth has stalled, macroeconomic imbalances have intensified, and public finances have deteriorated. Unlike regional peers, the...

The objective of the Comoros public expenditure and fiscal management review is to assist the Government of Comoros in strengthening the basis for the management of its public expenditure program. The review takes stock of expenditure trends and the systems governing public spending, with an...

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...

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...