advanced economies

cyclically adjusted balance

cyclically adjusted deficit

cyclically adjusted primary balance

Central and Eastern Europe

emerging market and middle-income economies

employer social security contribution

European Union

gross domestic product

Government Finance Statistics Manual

Latin America and the Caribbean

low-income developing countries

Middle East and North Africa

Middle East and North Africa and Pakistan

National Audit Office

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust

System of National Accounts

state-owned enterprise

Sub-Saharan Africa

social security contributions

Country name

Afghanistan

Angola

Albania

United Arab Emirates

Argentina

Armenia

Antigua and Barbuda

Australia

Austria

Azerbaijan

Burundi

Belgium

Benin

Burkina Faso

Bangladesh

Bulgaria

Bahrain

Bahamas, The

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Belarus

Belize

Bolivia

Brazil

Barbados

Brunei Darussalam

Bhutan

Botswana

Central African Republic

Canada

Switzerland

Chile

China

Côte d’Ivoire

Cameroon

Congo, Democratic Republic of the

Congo, Republic of

Colombia

Comoros

Cabo Verde

Costa Rica

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Germany

Djibouti

Dominica Denmark

Country name

Dominican Republic

Algeria

Ecuador

Egypt

Eritrea

Spain

Estonia

Ethiopia

Finland

Fiji

France

Micronesia, Federated States of

Gabon

United Kingdom

Georgia

Ghana

Guinea

Gambia, The

Guinea-Bissau

Equatorial Guinea

Greece

Grenada

Guatemala

Guyana

Hong Kong SAR

Honduras

Croatia

Haiti

Hungary

Indonesia

India

Ireland

Iran

Iraq

Iceland

Israel

Italy

Jamaica

Jordan

Japan

Kazakhstan

Kenya

Kyrgyz Republic

Cambodia

Kiribati

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Country name

Korea

Kuwait

Lao P.D.R.

Lebanon

Liberia

Libya

Saint Lucia

Sri Lanka

Lesotho

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Latvia

Morocco

Moldova

Madagascar

Maldives

Mexico

Marshall Islands

Macedonia, former Yugoslav Republic of

Mali

Malta

Myanmar

Montenegro

Mongolia

Mozambique

Mauritania

Mauritius

Malawi

Malaysia

Namibia

Niger

Nigeria

Nicaragua

Netherlands

Norway

Nepal

New Zealand

Oman

Pakistan

Panama

Peru

Philippines

Palau

Papua New Guinea

Poland

Portugal

Paraguay

Qatar

Country name

Romania

Russia

Rwanda

Saudi Arabia

Sudan

Senegal

Singapore

Solomon Islands

Sierra Leone

El Salvador

San Marino

Somalia

Serbia

Sao Tomé and Principe

Suriname

Slovak Republic

Slovenia

Sweden

Swaziland

Seychelles

Syria

Chad

Togo

Thailand

Tajikistan

Turkmenistan

Timor-Leste

Tonga

Trinidad and Tobago

Tunisia

Turkey

Tuvalu

Taiwan Province of China

Tanzania

Uganda

Ukraine

Uruguay

United States

Uzbekistan

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Venezuela

Vietnam

Vanuatu

Samoa

Yemen

South Africa

Zambia

Zimbabwe

Definition

Budgetary measures that dampen fluctuation in real GDP, automatically triggered by the tax code and by spending rules.

Obligations of a government, the timing and magnitude of which depend on the occurrence of some uncertain future event outside the government’s control. Can be explicit (obligations based on contracts, laws, or clear policy commitments) or implicit (political or moral obligations) and sometime arise from expectations that government will intervene in the event of a crisis or a disaster, or when the opportunity cost of not intervening is considered to be unacceptable.

Cyclical component of the overall fiscal balance, computed as the difference between cyclical revenues and cyclical expenditures. The latter are typically computed using country-specific elasticities of aggregate revenue and expenditure series with respect to the output gap. Where unavailable, standard elasticities (0,1) are assumed for expenditure and revenue, respectively.

Difference between the overall balance and the automatic stabilizers; equivalently, an estimate of the fiscal balance that would apply under current policies if output were equal to potential.

Revenue and expenditure adjusted for temporary effects associated with the deviation of actual from potential output (i.e., net of automatic stabilizers).

Cyclically adjusted balance excluding net interest payments.

A revenue-neutral shift from employers’ social contributions toward value-added tax.

Elasticity of expenditure with respect to the output gap.

The ratio of a change in output to an exogenous and temporary change in the fiscal deficit with respect to their respective baselines.

Discretionary fiscal policy actions (including revenue reductions and spending increases) adopted in response to a financial crisis.

All government units and all nonmarket, nonprofit institutions that are controlled and mainly financed by government units comprising the central, state, and local governments; includes Social Security funds, and does not include public corporations or quasi-corporations.

All liabilities that require future payment of interest and/or principal by the debtor to the creditor. This includes debt liabilities in the form of special drawing rights, currency, and deposits; debt securities; loans; insurance, pension, and standardized guarantee schemes; and other accounts payable. (See the 2001 edition of the IMF’s Government Finance Statistics Manual and Public Sector Debt Statistics Manual). The term “public debt” is used in the Fiscal Monitor, for simplicity, as synonymous with gross debt of the general government, unless otherwise specified. (Strictly speaking, the term “public debt” refers to the debt of the public sector as a whole, which includes financial and nonfinancial public enterprises and the central bank.)

Overall new borrowing requirement plus debt maturing during the year.

Effective interest rate (r, defined as the ratio of interest payments to the debt of the preceding period) minus nominal GDP growth (g), divided by 1 plus nominal GDP growth: (r – g)/(1 + g).

Gross debt minus financial assets corresponding to debt instruments. These financial assets are: monetary gold and SDRs, currency and deposits, debt securities, loans, insurance, pension, and standardized guarantee schemes, and other accounts receivable. In some countries the reported net debt can deviate from this definition on the basis of available information and national fiscal accounting practices.

General government plus nonfinancial public corporations.

Deviation of actual from potential GDP, in percent of potential GDP.

Net lending/borrowing, defined as the difference between revenue and total expenditure, using the 2001 edition of the IMF’s Government Finance Statistics Manual (GFSM 2001). Does not include policy lending. For some countries, the overall balance continues to be based on GFSM 1986, which is defined as total revenue and grants minus total expenditure and net lending.

Transactions in financial assets that are deemed to be for public policy purposes but are not part of the overall balance.

Overall balance excluding net interest payment (interest expenditure minus interest revenue).

See Gross debt.

The general government sector plus government-controlled entities, known as public corporations, whose primary activity is to engage in commercial activities.

Elasticity of revenue with respect to the output gap.

Change in the gross debt explained by factors other than the overall fiscal balance (for example, valuation changes).

Difference between the cyclically adjusted balance and other nonrecurrent effects that go beyond the cycle, such as one-off operations and other factors whose cyclical fluctuations do not coincide with the output cycle (for instance, asset and commodity prices and output composition effects).