Publication: Fiscal Rules and the Pro-Cycylicality of Public Investment in the West African Economic and Monetary Union
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Date
2013-08
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Published
2013-08
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Abstract
Evidence from a large panel of low-income and lower middle-income countries over the period 1995–2012 suggests that, contrary to other countries, public investment in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) has been pro-cyclical. Public investment contracts more in “bad times” than it increases in “good times” and appears to have become pro-cyclical since the introduction of the fiscal convergence criteria in 1994. The pro-cyclicality of public expenditure and the high asymmetry of shocks that affect WAEMU countries justify exploring options for greater counter-cyclicality of rules-based fiscal frameworks and for risk-sharing.
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“Dessus, Sébastien; Diaz Sanchez, Jose Luis; Varoudakis, Aristomene. 2013. Fiscal Rules and the Pro-Cycylicality of Public Investment in the West African Economic and Monetary Union. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 6562. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/15996 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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