Social Science > Poverty and Homelessness

You are looking at 1 - 10 of 23 items for :

  • Type: Journal Issue x
  • Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue: General x
Clear All Modify Search
Mamadou D Barry
,
Momodou Jallow
,
Glen Kwende
, and
Vivian Malta
We present the current status of labor market gender gaps in The Gambia and examine the macroeconomic and distributional gains from closing the gaps. We also study the impacts of high costs of living and the determinants of poverty. Closing labor market gender gaps, would significantly boost GDP, government revenues, women’s earnings, and reduce income inequality. High food costs adversely affect the levels of consumption in the bottom four quartiles of the income distribution. Lack of access to finance, living in rural areas, lack of employment, low levels of education, and exposure to climate shocks contribute to higher poverty levels.
International Monetary Fund. Middle East and Central Asia Dept.
This Joint Staff Advisory Note (JSAN) on the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper for Somalia highlights that Somalia continued to face challenges while implementing the Ninth National Development Plan in 2021 and 2022. Since 2020, the country has been struggling with the ongoing impacts of a desert locust infestation, persistent drought, the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and global food and fuel price increases due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. All of these shocks compounded the hardships of the population, including food insecurity. The number of people facing food insecurity due to the drought rose from 3.2 million in January 2022 to5.6 million by end-2022. Parliamentary and Presidential elections that were supposed to commence by end-2020 were not completed until in May 2022, also affecting the timing of external grant disbursements. The mid-term review report addresses concerns raised in staffs’ previous JSAN on Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Completion Point, climate change, and revenue mobilization. In terms of progress toward the HIPC Completion Point, as of September 2023 the government has completed 13 of 14 Completion Point triggers.
Zhiyong An
and
Kohei Asao
Japan’s unemployment rate remains relatively low compared to other OECD countries. However, Japan’s poverty rate among the working-age population is one of the higher ones among OECD countries. The public assistance program in Japan does not provide adequate income support for the working poor and creates inherent work disincentives. In this context, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) warrants consideration to strengthen the social safety net and relieve poverty of the working poor in Japan. This paper provides an overview of the theoretical and practical issues of EITC, aiming to support its potential introduction in Japan.
Mr. David Coady
and
Nghia-Piotr Le
There is a growing debate on the relative merits of universal and targeted social assistance transfers in achieving income redistribution objectives. While the benefits of targeting are clear, i.e., a larger poverty impact for a given transfer budget or lower fiscal cost for a given poverty impact, in practice targeting also comes with various costs, including incentive, administrative, social and political costs. The appropriate balance between targeted and universal transfers will therefore depend on how countries decide to trade-off these costs and benefits as well as on the potential for redistribution through taxes. This paper discusses the trade-offs that arise in different country contexts and the potential for strengthening fiscal redistribution in advanced and developing countries, including through expanding transfer coverage and progressive tax financing.
International Monetary Fund. African Dept.
This Selected Issues paper reviews the evolution of inequality in Ethiopia and discusses the role of various macroeconomic policies as well as structural factors. With a Gini coefficient of 30, Ethiopia remains among the most egalitarian countries in the world. The most vulnerable households seem to experience less benefit from growth than those in the higher income deciles. In terms of tax revenue collection, Ethiopia faces the typical challenges of a developing country. It is required that Ethiopia builds on its successful experience with the Productive Safety Net Program to address the growing needs of the urban poor.
International Monetary Fund
In this study, the ex post assessment (EPA) of longer program engagement with Mauritania is discussed. From this program, macroeconomic stability has been achieved. EPAs are intended to provide an opportunity to step back from continuing program relations to consider an analysis of the economic problems facing the country, review progress under IMF-supported programs, and draw forward-looking lessons for future IMF engagement. The newly designed poverty reduction strategy and ECF-supported program addresses the challenges identified by the EPA.
International Monetary Fund
The Annual Progress Report (APR) provides no estimates or analysis of current poverty levels and the poverty effects of the Liberia Poverty Reduction Strategy (LPRS) in the absence of reliable statistics. IMF staff recommends including a thorough poverty diagnosis that builds on the results of the two Core Welfare Indicator Questionnaires (CWIQs) in the next APR. During the first year of implementation of the LPRS, the authorities have strengthened the environment for sustainable economic growth, development, and poverty reduction. Progress in reforming and activating the productive sectors—particularly forestry, mining, and agriculture—has been slower than expected.
International Monetary Fund
This paper discusses key findings of the Fourth Review Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility for Armenia. Armenia’s economy performs strongly. All end-December 2006 quantitative and all but one structural performance criteria were observed. The main policy challenges are to broaden economic growth, raise tax revenues, and manage large foreign exchange inflows. Fiscal policy remains appropriate. Meeting the ambitious 2007 revenue target will require broadening the tax base and strengthening administration. The stance of monetary policy is appropriate.
International Monetary Fund
The Selected Issues paper discusses Cambodia’s poverty and growth, private sector development, public financial management reform, and debt sustainability. It summarizes the Poverty Assessment and describes the regime of tax incentives, costs, and limits for private investment. It also summarizes the assessment of Cambodia’s Public Expenditure Management system and Public Financial Management Reform Program. It highlights the key reform priorities, and provides historical background on Cambodia’s external and domestic debt. It also includes a statistical appendix and a summary of the tax system.
Alma Romero-Barrutieta
and
Mr. Eric V. Clifton
Empirical studies of the impact of geography and institutions on growth and development at the international level have become common place, but the high degree of abstraction at that level has led to calls for subnational studies. This paper examines these issues for a region of the United States, Appalachia, where the specific factors at play are identified and measured thus obviating the need for instrumental variable techniques. The evidence suggests that initial conditions, including both geography and institutions, are very important for economic development, having significant effects lasting hundreds of years.