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Business and Economics > Public Finance

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Cover Technical Assistance Reports
Dominica: Technical Assistance Report-Report on External Sector Statistics Mission (July 15–26, 2024)
International Monetary Fund. Statistics Dept.
A technical assistance (TA) mission on external sector statistics (ESS) was conducted to the Central Statistics Office (CSO) of Dominica as part of the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre (CARTAC) work program on ESS. The mission focused on addressing data gaps and improving statistical techniques for travel exports and direct investment to enhance the accuracy of the balance of payments (BOP) and the international investment position (IIP) and reduce net errors and omissions. In addition, the revised 2023 BOP that will be disseminated in December 2023 was reviewed.
Keywords:
Dominica; balance of payments statistics.; BOP survey; Dominica authority; BOP estimate; CBI program transaction; IMF's Statistics Department; External sector statistics; International investment position; Pension spending; Foreign direct investment; Caribbean
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Luxembourg: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
This Selected Issues paper explores implications for safeguarding fiscal space in Luxembourg. The analysis discusses the main drivers of revenues and expenditures in recent years. Against the background of rising ageing costs, the analysis discusses the fiscal outlook, accounting for the announced government plans, as well as fiscal risks. Additionally, it offers options for helping to safeguard ample fiscal space, in view of the spending pressures and risks. In order to preserve its ample fiscal buffers, which will support the government’s commitment of keeping Luxembourg’s AAA rating, a more prudent fiscal policy would be advisable. Recent revenue increases should not be taken as given, and additional tax reforms should be done in a budget-neutral manner. The growth of compensation of employees should be limited, social programs better targeted, and their efficiency increased. Early pension reform would also help limit spending pressures. Finally, a national framework could help anchor fiscal policy and maintain a credible commitment to prudent fiscal policies.
Keywords:
personal income taxation; copyright page; ample fiscal space; spending pressure; CIT revenue; property taxation reform; GDP share; Corporate income tax; Social protection spending; Personal income tax; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Energy Support for Firms in Europe: Best Practice Considerations and Recent Experience
Mr. Anil Ari
,
Philipp Engler
,
Gloria Li
,
Manasa Patnam
, and
Ms. Laura Valderrama
The surge in energy prices due to Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine significantly increased costs for European firms, prompting governments to introduce a range of support schemes. Although energy prices had eased by early 2023, uncertainty around prices remains unusually large. Against this backdrop, this paper examines the case for government intervention and identifies best practices with a view to improving the design of existing energy support schemes, facilitating exit from those schemes, and preparing policymakers for a downside scenario in which energy prices flare up again. The paper argues that support should be limited in size, strictly temporary in nature, narrowly targeted, and accompanied by strong safeguards and conditionality, while preserving price signals as much as possible to encourage energy conservation. Finally, the paper reviews recent support schemes introduced by European governments in light of the identified best practice considerations.
Keywords:
Energy prices; energy subsidies; financial support; price caps; energy crisis; Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; energy support scheme; price signal; best practice consideration; Annex II; support scheme; Energy pricing; Energy conservation; Fuel prices; Solvency; Europe
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Nordic-Baltic Regional Report: Technical Assistance Report-Nordic-Baltic Technical Assistance Project Financial Flows Analysis, AML/CFT Supervision, and Financial Stability
International Monetary Fund. Legal Dept.
This paper presents a regional report on Nordic-Baltic technical assistance project: financial flows analysis, Anti-Money Laundering and combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Supervision, and Financial Stability. The purpose of the project is to conduct an analysis of cross-border ML threats and vulnerabilities in the Nordic-Baltic region—encompassing Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden (the Nordic-Baltic Constituency or NBC)—and issue a final report containing recommendations for mitigating the potential risks. The financial flows analysis presented in this report is based on the IMF staff’s analysis of cross-border payments data. Six out of the eight Nordic-Baltic countries have seen an increase in aggregate flows since 2013. Monitoring cross-border financial flows provides countries with a deeper understanding of their external ML threat environment and evolving cross-border related risks they are facing. Leveraging broader analysis of ML/TF cross-border risk, the Nordic-Baltic countries should develop their own understanding of higher-risk countries reflecting country-specific ML/TF threats.
Keywords:
TF risk assessment; colleges participation; TF risk; EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority; supervisory cooperation; information Sharin; Anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT); Virtual currencies; Correspondent banking; Internal controls; Financial sector stability; Baltics; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Euro Area Policies: 2023 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Euro Area; IMF Country Report No. 23/264
International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
The 2023 Article IV Consultation discusses that the euro area economy has shown remarkable resilience in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the largest terms of trade shock in several decades, thanks to a swift policy response and a strong rebound in contact-intensive services. Looking ahead, growth is expected to pick up gradually throughout 2023 and 2024, supported by a recovery in real incomes in the context of continued tight labor market conditions, a further easing of supply constraints, and firmer external demand, even as financial conditions continue to tighten. While headline inflation has fallen sharply recently after reaching record high levels, core inflation is proving more persistent. As tight financial conditions restrain demand and supply shocks dissipate further, inflation is set to decline further but is expected to remain elevated for an extended period. Renewed supply shocks, which could result from an escalation of the war in Ukraine and a related increase of commodity prices, or a further intensification of geoeconomic fragmentation, would also push up inflation and hurt growth. On the upside, the economy could again prove more resilient than expected, especially amid a still large stock of excess savings.
Keywords:
Euro area headline inflation; inflation expectation; EU climate investment fund; EU AML authority; EU institution; EU bank; core inflation; EU economy; Inflation; Energy prices; Fiscal stance; Monetary tightening; Global; Europe
Cover IMF Working Papers
Derivative Margin Calls: A New Driver of MMF Flows
Maddalena Ghio
,
Linda Rousova
,
Dilyara Salakhova
, and
German Villegas Bauer
During the March 2020 market turmoil, euro area money-market funds (MMFs) experienced significant outflows, reaching almost 8% of assets under management. This paper investigates whether the volatility in MMF flows was driven by investors’ liquidity needs related to derivative margin payments. We combine three highly granular unique data sources (EMIR data for derivatives, SHSS data for investor holdings of MMFs and Refinitiv Lipper data for daily MMF flows) to construct a daily fund-level panel dataset spanning from February to April 2020. We estimate the effects of variation margin paid and received by the largest holders of EURdenominated MMFs on flows of these MMFs. The main findings suggest that variation margin payments faced by some investors holding MMFs were an important driver of the flows of EUR-denominated MMFs domiciled in euro area.
Keywords:
liquidity risk; money market funds; big data; interconnectedness; non-bank financial intermediaries.; EUR-denominated MMFs; derivative margin calls; MMF flow; variation margin payment; VM flow; Stocks; Liquidity; Mutual funds; Nonbank financial institutions; Pension spending; Global; IMF working paper research Department; derivatives reform; margin payment; Derivative markets
Cover Technical Notes and Manuals
Special Purpose Entities: Guidelines for a Data Template
Mr. Carlos Sanchez-Munoz
,
Artak Harutyunyan
, and
Ms. Padma S Hurree Gobin
The Note is meant to assist compilers in the practical application of the agreed defini¬tion to identify resident Special Purpose Entities (SPE) in their jurisdictions and in collecting and reporting SPE-related cross-border data. To this end, these guidelines provide practical advice on the (1) implementa¬tion of the definition of SPEs, (2) possible data sources and processes for collecting and compiling SPE-related statistics, and (3) reporting within the agreed Data Template.
Keywords:
Globalization; multinationals; host jurisdictions; institutional units; control; cross-border flows and positions; SPE definition; SPE data collection; company B; SPE flow; SPE statistics; Special purpose vehicle; Data collection; External sector statistics; Foreign direct investment; International investment position; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Health Care Reform in Greece: Progress and Reform Priorities
Niki Kalavrezou
and
Hui Jin
We review Greek public sector healthcare policies and health-related outcomes since 2010.We find that excess spending was successfully curtailed, elements of the institutional framework were modernized, and health outcomes have been relatively favorable. However, especially prior to Covid-19, public healthcare spending had been compressed to potentially unsustainable levels, with widening inequalities and large unmet needs, especially among the poor. Higher public spending and advancing structural healthcare reforms are needed to improve the efficiency and equity of the Greek healthcare system, including strengthening primary healthcare, reducing out-of-pocket payments, and eliminating remaining insurance gaps.
Keywords:
healthcare; health policy; structural reforms; health insurance; healthcare reform; reform priority; health outcome; healthcare policy; Health care spending; Total expenditures; Europe
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Luxembourg: 2021 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Luxembourg
International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
The economic impact of the pandemic has been much milder than initially foreseen, still the outlook remains challenging. The economy, dominated by financial services, adapted quickly to telework and benefited from unprecedented policy support, both domestically and globally. Uncertainty is unusually high, dominated by the virus dynamics in the short term, with downside risks relating to a sharp rise in global risk premia, deglobalization trends, and changes in international taxation.
Keywords:
liability positions vis-à-vis nonresident; policy support; money market rate; support measure; IMF staff calculation; COVID-19; Credit; Public investment and public-private partnerships (PPP); Infrastructure; Public investment spending; Global; Europe
Cover IMF Working Papers
International Taxation and Luxembourg’s Economy
Ruud A. de Mooij
,
Dinar Prihardini
, and
Mr. Emil Stavrev
Luxembourg receives ample investment from multinational corporations, in part due to some attractive features in its international tax rules. Around 95 percent of these foreign investments pass through Luxembourg via companies performing holding and/or intra-group financing activities. While their contribution to Luxembourg’s economy is modest relative to their large overall balance sheets, they still generate around 3 percent of GDP in tax revenue, create almost 4500 direct jobs, and spend almost 3 percent of GDP on salaries and purchases of business services. Ongoing changes in the international corporate tax framework pose risks to these economic contributions, which this paper attempts to quantify. It also discusses options for reforms in Luxembourg’s tax system that could help offset adverse revenue and economic effects.
Keywords:
Luxembourg; International Tax; Foreign Direct Investment; Special Purpose Entities.; WP; Luxembourg economy; Luxembourg government; tax system; CbCR datum; climate change commitment; energy efficiency target; Luxembourg driver; Luxembourg headquartered MNEs; Luxembourg MNEs; Special Purpose Entities; property tax; Corporate income tax; Special purpose vehicle; Income; Environmental taxes; Global; Europe