The UK's self-sufficiency in fossil fuels shields public finances from the negative effects of higher oil prices on general economic activity. Changes in the international price of oil affect government revenues from the corporate and household sectors. Taxes on oil production are estimated to...

This Country Focus studies the impact of changes in government expenditure in Hungary over the period 1997Q1 to 2005Q4 using a structural vector-autoregressive model. The results suggest that discretionary shifts in government expenditure have a mixed impact on the economy. In particular, while...