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Business and Economics > Budgeting

You are looking at 1 - 10 of 62 items for :

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Cover Selected Issues Papers
Spending Efficiency and Reforms: France
Iulia Ruxandra Teodoru
and
Ruud Vermeulen
To rebuild fiscal buffers after large fiscal responses to successive shocks over 2020-22, France will need to reverse the trend spending increase observed over the last three decades through structural spending reforms. This paper identifies areas where scope for savings or efficiency gains exist based on an evaluation of the level and efficiency of public spending in France relative to European peers, using benchmarking analysis and stochastic frontier analysis to derive efficiency frontiers. Reforming social protection, health, education, and civil service, and rationalizing tax expenditures should preserve or improve outcomes while generating savings that would help meet medium-term adjustment needs.
Keywords:
Public Expenditure; Efficiency; Fiscal Consolidation; Fiscal Policy; France; efficiency frontier; efficiency gain; frontier analysis; IMF staff calculation; spending gap; Tax expenditures; Aging; Europe; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
France: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
The Selected Issues paper on France identifies areas where scope for savings or efficiency gains exist based on an analysis of public spending on key categories and related outcomes relative to peers. Reform of social protection, health, education, and civil service should preserve or improve outcomes while generating savings that would help meet medium-term adjustment needs. In parallel, rationalizing costly, distortive, or inefficient tax expenditures would allow for base broadening and partially offset permanent revenue losses from the rebalancing of revenues away from labor and production taxes. Social protection spending accounts for more than half of the spending gap with peers. Achieving more efficiency in local public administration will be critical to ensure the benefits of decentralization in France. Adequate subnational capacity and transparent multilevel governance, including efficient co-ordination mechanisms across levels of government is important to promote efficient public service delivery and regional development. Rationalizing and redesigning tax expenditures would improve their efficiency and generate substantial savings.
Keywords:
copyright page; No. 23/57; spending gap; wage bill; spending reform; Tax expenditures; Housing; Europe
Cover Policy Papers
FY2019 - Output Cost Estimates and Budget Outturn
International Monetary Fund. Office of Budget and Planning
The paper presents highlights from the FY 19 budget, followed by a discussion of outputs based on the Fund Thematic Categories and of inputs.
Keywords:
PP; budget; spend; cost; Fund; personnel cost; expenditures FY; fund policy; economic analysis; prudent budget management; policy work; output cost estimate; spending shortfall; office of budget; Budget planning and preparation; Total expenditures; Economic classification; Middle East and Central Asia; Western Hemisphere
Cover Policy Papers
Gender Budgeting in G7 Countries
International Monetary Fund
At the request of the Italian Presidency of the G7, the IMF has prepared a paper on gender-budgeting as a contribution to the G7 initiative on equality. The paper provides an overview of gender-responsive budgeting concepts and practices in the G7 countries. It summarizes recent trends in gender equality in G7 and advanced countries, noting that while equality has improved overall, exceptions and gaps remain. Recognizing that many fiscal policies have gender-related implications, this paper: Sets out the main fiscal policy instruments, both expenditure and tax, that have a significant impact on gender equality. Provides a conceptual framework for the public financial management (PFM) institutions that play an enabling role in implementing gender-responsive fiscal policies. These instruments include gender budget statements, gender impact assessments, performance-related budget frameworks, and gender audits. Ministries of finance have an especially important role in promoting and coordinating gender budgeting, and associated analytical tools. Provides an assessment of the status of gender budgeting in the G7 countries. In preparing the paper, the IMF carried out a survey of PFM institutions and practices in the G7, as well as in three comparator countries that are relatively strong performers in developing gender-responsive budgeting (Austria, Belgium, and Spain). This information was complemented by other sources, including recent studies by the OECD and the World Bank. The main policy implications and conclusions of the paper include: Well-structured fiscal policies and sound PFM systems have the potential to contribute to gender equality, furthering the substantial progress already made by the G7 countries. While G7 countries have made effective use of a wide range of fiscal and non-fiscal policies to reduce gender inequalities, there has generally been less progress in developing effective gender-specific PFM institutions; embedding a gender dimension in the normal budgeting and policy-making routines varies across G7 countries and is not done systematically. Fiscal policy instruments of relevance to increasing gender equality include the use of tax and tax benefits to increase the supply of female labor, improved family benefits, subsidized child-care, other social benefits that increase the net return to women’s work, and incentives for businesses to encourage the hiring of women.
Keywords:
PP; country; government; General State budget In Belgium; government program; fiscal policy; countries practice; expenditure policy; countries well; Gender inequality; Gender budgeting; Budget planning and preparation; Women; Europe; Caribbean
Cover IMF Working Papers
Fiscal Rules to Tame the Political Budget Cycle: Evidence from Italian Municipalities
Lorenzo Forni
and
Andrea Bonfatti
The paper provides evidence that fiscal rules can limit the political budget cycle. It focuses on the application of the Italian fiscal rule at the sub-national level over the period 2004-2006 and shows that: 1) municipalities are subject to political budget cycles in capital spending; 2) the Italian subnational fiscal rule introduced in 1999 has been enforced by the central government; 3) municipalities subject to the fiscal rule show more limited political budget cycles than municipalities not subject to the rule. In order to identify the effect, we rely on the fact that the domestic fiscal rule does not apply to municipalities below 5,000 inhabitants. We find that the political budget cycle increases real capital spending by about 35 percent on average in the years prior to municipal elections and that the sub-national fiscal rule reduces these figures by about two thirds.
Keywords:
WP; municipality; analysis; capital; fiscal rules; local government finance; regression discontinuity; budget cycle; capital spending; DSP rule; regression discontinuity analysis; baseline result; DSP threshold; Capital spending; Budget planning and preparation; Current spending
Cover Policy Papers
Budget Institutions in G-20 Countries - An Update
International Monetary Fund
The recent crisis left many G-20 countries with significant fiscal consolidation needs. There is evidence that well-designed budget institutions can help countries to plan and deliver successful fiscal adjustments. A 2010 internal IMF study identified ten budget institutions which can support the consolidation process, assessed their strength in each G-20 country, and identified priorities for institutional reform. Following consultations with all G-20 countries and using a revised evaluation framework, this paper: (i) reports on progress in strengthening their budget institutions; (ii) analyzes their impact on post-crisis fiscal performance; and (iii) makes recommendations for further institutional reform
Keywords:
PP; government; country; budget institution; adjustment strategy; draft budget; consolidation plan; State debt; Budget planning and preparation; Fiscal consolidation; Fiscal rules; Macroeconomic and fiscal forecasts; Africa
Cover IMF Working Papers
Aggregate Stability and Balanced-Budget Rules
Matteo Ghilardi
and
Raffaele Rossi
It has been shown that under perfect competition and a Cobb-Douglas production function, a basic real business cycle model may exhibit indeterminacy and sunspot fluctuations when income tax rates are determined by a balanced-budget rule. This paper introduces in an otherwise standard real business cycle model a more general and data coherent class of production functions, namely a constant elasticity of substitution production function. We show that the degree of substitutability between production factors is a key ingredient to understand the (de)stabilising properties of a balanced-budget rule. Then we calibrate the model consistently with the empirical evidence, i.e. we set the elasticity of substitution between labour and capital below unity. We show that compared to the Cobb-Douglas case, the likelihood of indeterminacy under a balanced-budget rule is greatly reduced in the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom.
Keywords:
WP; production function; Laffer curve; fiscal policy; Constant Elasticity of Substitution; Indeterminacy; Business Cycles; elasticity of substitution; demand function; income share; demand schedule; government budget constraint; substitution elasticity; capital tax; depreciation rate; labour income tax; Income tax systems; Budget planning and preparation
Cover IMF Working Papers
Reforming Tax Expenditures in Italy: What, Why, and How?
Justin Tyson
The IMF has advised country authorities to roll back tax expenditures as a way to support fiscal consolidation efforts—urging them to evaluate tax expenditures according to clear criteria, and assessing their impact on public finances, economic efficiency, equity, and administrative and compliance costs. This paper analyzes tax expenditures in Italy, considering the extent to which tax expenditures can be considered part of an optimal tax system and possible reforms.
Keywords:
WP; tax expenditure; expenditure; tax; government; Tax expenditures; optimal taxation; efficiency; equity; budget process; substitute tax regime; expenditure program; labor tax wedge; draft tax reform law; tax design; tax norm; tax expenditure cost; single tax; differential VAT regime; Value-added tax; Tax allowances; Personal income tax; Corporate income tax
Cover IMF Working Papers
Shining a Light on the Mysteries of State: The Origins of Fiscal Transparency in Western Europe
Mr. Timothy C Irwin
The extent of fiscal transparency in Western Europe has varied over the centuries. Although ancient Greek, Roman, and medieval governments were sometimes open about their finances, the absolute monarchies of the 1600s and 1700s shrouded them in mystery. Factors that have encouraged transparency include (i) the sharing of political power and rulers’ need to persuade creditors to lend and taxpayers’ representatives to approve new taxes; (ii) the spread of technological innovations that reduce the costs of storing and transmitting information; and (iii) the acceptance of political theories that emphasize accountable government and public discussion of government policy.
Keywords:
WP; government finances; government policy; absolutist government; government sector; fiscal transparency; budgets; public accounts; public finances; government's account; government regulation; finance minister; government operation; publication of a report; Budget planning and preparation; Fiscal accounting and reporting; Western Europe; Europe
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Italy: Technical Assistance Report--The Delega Fiscale and the Strategic Orientation of Tax Reform
International Monetary Fund. Fiscal Affairs Dept.
The contents of this report constitute technical advice provided by the staff of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to the authorities of Italy (the “TA recipient”) in response to their request for technical assistance. This report (in whole or in part) or summaries thereof may be disclosed by the IMF to IMF Executive Directors and members of their staff, as well as to other agencies or instrumentalities of the TA recipient, and upon their request, to World Bank staff and other technical assistance providers and donors with legitimate interest, unless the TA recipient specifically objects to such disclosure (see Operational Guidelines for the Dissemination of Technical Assistance Information: http://www.imf.org/external/np/pp/eng/2009/040609.pdf">http://www.imf.org/external/np/pp/eng/2009/040609.pdf). Disclosure of this report (in whole or in part) or summaries thereof to parties outside the IMF other than agencies or instrumentalities of the TA recipient, World Bank staff, other technical assistance providers and donors with legitimate interest shall require the explicit consent of the TA recipient and the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; income tax; tax rate; carbon tax; tax system; retained earnings; single tax; Tax expenditures; Income; Income tax systems; Environmental taxes; Europe