This paper examines the rationale for the imposition of fiscal rules as a way to reduce budgetary imbalances. It presents theoretical arguments for the existence of a quot;fiscal deficit biasquot; and the empirical evidence on the economic, political and institutional factors leading to this...

The study sheds light on the stabilizing role of government budget. It finds that in Bulgaria both taxes and government spending are negatively related to the real growth rate. This leads to the conclusion that budgetary expenditure influence output in a non-Keynesian fashion. The size of...