This paper studies whether budget rigidities affect the probability of countries getting into fiscal distress and reduce the likelihood of governments performing fiscal adjustments. Budget rigidities are constraints that limit the ability of the government to change the size and structure of the...

Policy toward fiscal rules is an important issue in the countries of the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia). According to a rough estimate, the countries with rules (all but North Macedonia) have complied with their debt and...

Policy makers in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) often complain that poor fiscal performance in their countries is a result of a high degree of spending rigidity. Despite being a common complaint, the issue has remained largely ignored by the literature because of the lack of adequate...

This Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) performance assessment report evaluates the seven core pillars of the public financial management (PFM) system of the Government of the Philippines (Government) as set out in the summary assessment below. It evaluates how effectively...

Performance based budgeting (PBB) has been a popular reform among ministries of finance across the world, accompanied by high expectations for its ability to transform national budget processes. PBB offers the hope of a more evidence-based rationale for making budget decisions across an array of...

What is the real character of fiscal policy? Is it expansionary or restrictive? Is it pro-cyclical or does it have stabilization effects? Policymakers and economic analysts need to be able to ascertain fiscal policy effort. As the actual budget balances are affected both by cyclical factors and...

Postponement of 2012 VAT Law requires significant early adjustments in the FY18 Budget to tap additional sources of revenue and expenditure saving to increase fiscal space. Automation, process simplification, and dispute resolution may bring additional tax revenues in the immediate future. These...

Guinea-Bissau is a small state in West Africa with a population of around 1.8 million. It is rich in natural resources (fisheries, forestry and agriculture) and biodiversity. Economic activity is, however, dominated by the production and sale of unprocessed cashew, which is also the main source...