Publication: Bulgaria : Public Expenditures for Growth and Competitiveness
Loading...
Date
2012-03
ISSN
Published
2012-03
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Bulgaria's economy performed relatively well during the crisis and the economy is reviving. In comparison with other Tenth European Union (EU10) countries, for Bulgaria the drop in Gross Domestic Product, or GDP growth was below the median, fiscal performance deteriorated less, and public debt stayed among the lowest in the entire EU. In late January 2011 the EC concluded that in 2010 Bulgaria had made significant progress in deficit reduction and is on track to exit the excessive deficit procedure in 2011. The large macroeconomic imbalances observed in 2005-08 had been corrected by 2010 with relatively little negative impact on growth relative to other EU10 countries. Since late 2010 Bulgaria's recovery has been driven by net exports; investment and consumption are recovering more slowly. As long as the economic environment remains favorable and structural reforms are implemented as planned, the economy should reach and even exceed its pre-crisis level in 2012. This report is intended to inform policy makers, the international community, and civil society about Bulgaria's recent economic performance and its options for reforming public spending to enhance competitiveness and growth. It first reviews Bulgaria's growth strategy and its fiscal adjustment over the last several years and the medium-term challenges it confronts. The report then analyzes Bulgaria's export performance to identify comparative advantages and outline policy options to enhance competitiveness in the medium term. Reforms should focus on improving the productivity of the public sector to enhance service delivery, improve the business environment, and upgrade infrastructure. The report identifies two general areas for reform: (i) the wage bill and public employment; and (ii) management of public investment.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank. 2012. Bulgaria : Public Expenditures for Growth and Competitiveness. Public expenditure review (PER);. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/12451 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Uganda - A Public Expenditure Review 2008 : With a Focus on Affordability of Pay Reform and Health Sector(World Bank, 2009-05-30)This report is a further response to the call from Uganda's leaders for 'value for money' in public spending. The report is the second in a series of three sector-oriented public expenditure reviews (PER) for the Government of Uganda (GOU) prepared by the World Bank as input into the Government of Uganda's budget reform initiatives. The focus of this report is efficiency and efficacy of spending by the Government of Uganda with a specific focus on the health sector. The first report in the series was 'Uganda fiscal policy for growth', published in 2007, with a focus on the education sector. This report comes in two volumes. Volume one is the main report with conclusions and policy recommendations which analyses composition of overall spending and budget implementation, budgetary consequences of ongoing pay reforms, and efficiency and effectiveness of spending in Uganda's health sector. Volume two contains a full report on the health sector, and includes the background papers prepared.Publication Morocco - Public Financial Management Performance Report (PEFA) : Assessment of Public Financial Management Systems, Procedures, and Institutions(World Bank, 2009-05-01)This Public Financial Management Performance Report (PFM-PR) assesses the current performance of financial management in Morocco's public sector. The Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) framework applied for this review uses an assessment tool based on a set of high-level indicators that provide reliable information on the performance of PFM systems, processes and institutions. The purpose of using this tool is to measure performance for five PFM areas in Morocco as compared to international standards. The Kingdom of Morocco is a medium-income country with a population of 31 million and per capita income of European Union (EU) 2,300 (2007). Average life expectancy has significantly improved to 72.4 years in 2007, reflecting a progressive improvement in living standards. Nonetheless, major social challenges remain, in particular the economic insecurity of a large segment of its residents. Despite a considerable improvement in poverty indicators during this century (the incidence of poverty fell from 15.3 percent in 2001 to 9 percent in 2007), more than a quarter of the population in 2007 remained economically vulnerable. The report covers public expenditure at the central government level, including central government's financial relationships with local and regional governments and with public enterprises (PE). Morocco has a relatively large public sector that accounts for 53 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) (2007), comparable to that for other Magreb countries.Publication Bhutan Country Economic Update : Accelerating Growth and Poverty Reduction(Washington, DC, 2007-09-22)This report was prepared to help the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGoB) meet its felt need for more economic analysis and policy advice. It also seeks to provide information to a wider audience of development partners and interested parties. Over the past 25 years, Bhutan has been developing rapidly, pursuing sound economic policies, exploiting hydropower, and enjoying strong support from external development partners. Solid growth continues to raise per capita income and support improvements in social indicators. Through the prism of these four elements, this report seeks to contribute to the policy discussion by providing an integrative analysis and update of the Bhutanese economy, as well as developing a set of key recommendations and issues that warrant consideration or further study. Section two describes ongoing governance reforms, outlines the objectives articulated in Bhutan's Vision 2020 document and the Ninth Five-Year Plan (Ninth Plan), discusses the poverty reduction strategy, and notes progress towards meeting the millennium development goals. Section three examines recent economic developments, including growth, the balance of payments, and external debt. Section four analyzes macroeconomic policy, highlighting the challenge of fiscal volatility and the need to manage expectations surrounding the coming on-stream of the giant hydropower project Tala. Section five discusses several structural aspects of public resource management, including ongoing fiscal and financial management reforms, the importance of avoiding the 'natural resource curse,' and the treatment of state owned enterprises. Section six investigates the role of strengthening the investment climate for facilitating private sector development. Section seven comments on the prospects for accelerating growth, looking at the development of additional hydropower resources, construction, tourism, and agribusiness, emphasizing that while hydropower will continue to drive economic growth, tourism and value added activities in agriculture will be central to boosting growth and generating broad-based employment. Section eight concludes with medium term development prospects and challenges.Publication Lao PDR Economic Monitor, November 2006(Vientiane, 2006-11)Lao PDR economic performance has continued to improve during 2006. Real GDP grew at 7.0 percent in 2005 and is now expected to be slightly higher at 7.3 percent in 2006. This growth is in large part due to foreign investment inflows in mining and hydro-power and growing mineral exports, but the share of non-mining contributions has increased this year, reaching 4.9 out of 7.3 percent. Agriculture, manufacturing and services sectors are expected to sustain growth, due to rising FDI in agriculture, manufacturing, and increasing trend in services (especially tourism). Inflation (of Consumer Price Index) has continued to remain in single digits: after rising early this year it has dropped remarkably during the last few months, to 5.5 percent in September and 3.7 percent in October 2006. This paper includes the following headings: introduction; part 1 recent economic developments -- the macroeconomic situation, elaboration and implementation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy; part 2 structural reforms -- public expenditure policy and management, reform of state-owned enterprises, financial sector reform, trade reform, and private sector development; and part 3 donor assistance to the reform agenda -- public sector governance; reform of state owned enterprises & financial sector; trade reform; and private sector, tourism development, and land reform.Publication Republic of Tajikistan : Evaluation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper Process and Arrangements Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility(Washington, DC, 2004-07-06)The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank introduced the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) process in 1999 to strengthen the poverty alleviation focus of their assistance to low-income countries. This report reviews Tajikistan s experience with the PRSP process, focusing on the effectiveness of IMF and World Bank support to the process and the extent to which the two institutions lending and non-lending activities in the country are aligned to the objectives of the PRSP approach. The rest of the report is organized as follows. Part two provides brief background accounts of political and economic developments since independence in 1991, including poverty incidence in the late 1990s. The relevance of the PRSP approach, application of the underlying principles, and preliminary evidence on results, are examined in part three. Part four considers the effectiveness of World Bank support, including alignment of that support to the objectives of the PRSP approach. The effectiveness of IMF support, including alignment of programs supported under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) and its predecessor, the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF), to PRSP objectives, is assessed in part five. Part six reviews IMF-World Bank collaboration, include the Joint Staff Assessments (JSA) of the PRSP and of collaboration on country operations. Part seven presents main conclusions and lessons.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication World Development Report 2006(Washington, DC, 2005)This year’s Word Development Report (WDR), the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person’s chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report’s main message is that, in the long run, the pursuit of equity and the pursuit of economic prosperity are complementary. In addition to detailed chapters exploring these and related issues, the Report contains selected data from the World Development Indicators 2005‹an appendix of economic and social data for over 200 countries. This Report offers practical insights for policymakers, executives, scholars, and all those with an interest in economic development.Publication The World Bank Group Beyond the Crisis(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2009-10-09)Robert B. Zoellick, President of the World Bank, addressed the following issues: seeds of crisis; the changing context; responsible globalization; the current role of the World Bank Group; the role of the World Bank Group in a new post-crisis World; and the reform agenda. He pointed to four aspects of Group’s future role: development finance; delivering knowledge products; the global public goods agenda (such as climate change and communicable diseases); and unforeseen future crises. Reform efforts include: 1) improving development effectiveness with a focus on results, decentralization, gender, investment lending reform, and human resources; 2) promoting accountability and good governance, and 3) increasing cost efficiency. He noted the completion of recent enhancements to the voice and representation of developing and transition countries in the Bank Group. Bretton Woods is being overhauled before our eyes.Publication World Development Report 2011(World Bank, 2011)The 2011 World development report looks across disciplines and experiences drawn from around the world to offer some ideas and practical recommendations on how to move beyond conflict and fragility and secure development. The key messages are important for all countries-low, middle, and high income-as well as for regional and global institutions: first, institutional legitimacy is the key to stability. When state institutions do not adequately protect citizens, guard against corruption, or provide access to justice; when markets do not provide job opportunities; or when communities have lost social cohesion-the likelihood of violent conflict increases. Second, investing in citizen security, justice, and jobs is essential to reducing violence. But there are major structural gaps in our collective capabilities to support these areas. Third, confronting this challenge effectively means that institutions need to change. International agencies and partners from other countries must adapt procedures so they can respond with agility and speed, a longer-term perspective, and greater staying power. Fourth, need to adopt a layered approach. Some problems can be addressed at the country level, but others need to be addressed at a regional level, such as developing markets that integrate insecure areas and pooling resources for building capacity Fifth, in adopting these approaches, need to be aware that the global landscape is changing. Regional institutions and middle income countries are playing a larger role. This means should pay more attention to south-south and south-north exchanges, and to the recent transition experiences of middle income countries.Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.Publication World Development Report 1987(New York: Oxford University Press, 1987)This report, consisting of two parts, is the tenth in the annual series assessing development issues. Part I reviews recent trends in the world economy and their implications for the future prospects of developing countries. It stresses that better economic performance is possible in both industrial and developing countries, provided the commitment to economic policy reforms is maintained and reinforced. In regard to the external debt issues, the report argues for strengthened cooperation among industrial countries in the sphere of macroeconomic policy to promote smooth adjustment to the imbalances caused by external payments (in developing countries). Part II reviews and evaluates the varied experience with government policies in support of industrialization. Emphasis is placed on policies which affect both the efficiency and sustainability of industrial transformation, especially in the sphere of foreign trade. The report finds that developing countries which followed policies that promoted the integration of their industrial sector into the international economy through trade have fared better than those which insulated themselves from international competition.