Brazil - Improving Fiscal Circumstances for Growth : Volume 2. Main Report

Abstract

This document is part of a series of reports by the World Bank on Brazil's potential to foment more robust economic growth and reduce poverty and inequality. The main focus of this report is on the interrelated fiscal circumstances facing Brazil, with an emphasis on public sector spending. The report is divided into two volumes. This first volume distills the essential stylized facts (that are described in detail in volume two) and focuses on key recommendations (discussed in detail in Chapter 5 of the second volume). These recommendations highlight not only areas where improvements could be achieved, but also suggest options on how to go about implementing such modifications, based in part on international experience. The second volume of the report contains: more detail on these stylized facts; a first attempt to compile data for the entire non-financial public sector; quantitative analysis of the fiscal impacts on growth using a dynamic general equilibrium model and a simulation based on that model; specific examples of key budget rigidities; and, as an example, a review of road transport spending with a view to strengthening the impacts of this infrastructure spending. Other related World Bank reports concentrate on social security, health, financial markets, infrastructure, poverty, and the issues surrounding the monitoring and evaluation of public sector services in general. Volume one of this report also reflects some of the preliminary findings in these other reports.