Publication:
Brazil - Improving Fiscal Circumstances for Growth : Volume 1. Stylized Facts and Recommendations

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Files in English
English PDF (2.7 MB)
240 downloads
English Text (94.98 KB)
47 downloads
Date
2007-03
ISSN
Published
2007-03
Author(s)
Editor(s)
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.
Link to Data Set
Citation
World Bank. 2007. Brazil - Improving Fiscal Circumstances for Growth : Volume 1. Stylized Facts and Recommendations. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8002 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.
Associated URLs
Associated content
Report Series
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Publication
    Brazil - Improving Fiscal Circumstances for Growth : Volume 2. Main Report
    (Washington, DC, 2007-03) World Bank
    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.
  • Publication
    Cape Verde - Enhancing Planning to Increase Efficiency of Public Spending : Background chapters
    (World Bank, 2009-02-01) World Bank
    A Public Expenditure Review (PER) update was conducted in 2006 which highlighted: (i) the large and increasing weight of non-discretionary expenditures in the total budget; (ii) the importance of improving coordination among the various planning instruments; (iii) the need to strengthen public finance management; (iv) the fiscal risks that emerge from the energy sector; and (v) the need to further progress with the pension reform. During 2006-07 the Government implemented several of the 2006 PER update recommendations. Building on the findings of the 2006 PER update, in mid 2007 the Government and the World Bank decided to prepare jointly an updated PER that would inform the preparation of the second Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (GPRSP-2) and the Country Assistance Strategy (CAS). The objectives of the PER were to: (i) examine recent macro and fiscal developments (chapter one and two); (ii) provide an update of the strengths and shortcomings of the public finance management system, the recent reforms implemented in this area and the new emerging challenges (chapter three); (iii) conduct an analysis of the fiscal decentralization issues, with particular emphasis on the municipalities' resources, expenditures, budget processes, capacity and systems, and accountability to the citizens (chapter four); and (iv) examine public expenditure issues in infrastructure, focusing on issues of adequacy, allocation and efficiency of spending in electricity, water, roads, air transportation, and ports (chapter five).
  • Publication
    Republic of Mozambique : Evaluation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper Process and Arrangements Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility
    (Washington, DC, 2004-07-06) International Monetary Fund; World Bank
    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. At the IMF, the introduction of the PRSP was accompanied by the transformation of the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF), the concessional lending window, into the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF), with a view to giving a more central role to poverty reduction and pro-poor growth considerations in the design of IMF-supported programs in low-income countries. The rest of the report is organized as follows. Part two provides background information on poverty incidence in Mozambique, as well as on political and economic developments since the early 1990s. The relevance of the PRSP approach to Mozambique s situation, application of the underlying principles, and preliminary evidence on results, are examined in part three. The effectiveness of IMF assistance, including alignment of the PRGF and technical assistance to PRSP objectives is assessed in part four. Part five considers the effectiveness of World Bank support, also including alignment of that support to the objectives of the PRSP approach. Part six reviews IMF-World Bank collaboration in relation to the PRSP process, and part seven presents the main conclusions and lessons.
  • Publication
    Improving the Quality of Public Expenditure in the Dominican Republic
    (Washington, DC, 2012) World Bank
    This book addresses the achievements, challenges, and opportunities to improve the quality of public spending. Steps to make such changes have come through monitoring and evaluation approaches that can be replicated or expanded; sectoral efforts to improve the performance of priority programs; Congress's use of information on the results of public spending; the implementation of performance budgeting at subnational levels; and the harmonization of accounting between the three levels of the federal government. All these aspects are key elements of comprehensive reform. Currently, as the book states, accountability focuses on achieving results rather than on centering attention on mere compliance with rules and procedures. In this context, based on a new legal framework, the government of Mexico has decisively promoted results-based management and budgeting. The Performance Evaluation System (SED) was finally established in 2008 with the institution of the principles, concepts, methodologies, guidelines, procedures, and systems that support its operation. Its adoption as a common practice in the Federal Public Administration (APF) process will require a gradual, progressive, systematic learning and continuous improvement that should allow performance evaluation to take root in the APF. This calls for consolidating the Results-Based Budgeting (RBB)-SED in all agencies, expanding its use and improving the quality of the information that feeds it. However, not just the APF benefit will from the implementation of the RBB-SED. As the publication suggests, the approach to an expenditure budget based on performance information offers Congress great opportunities to enhance its regulatory and supervisory functions. The improvement in the quality of Matrices de Indicadores para Resultados (MIRs), program evaluations, and their integration into the budgetary programming cycle also contributes to this purpose.
  • Publication
    Policy Note on the Unfinished Fiscal Reform Agenda in Indian States
    (Washington, DC, 2008-06) World Bank
    Both central and state governments have carried out significant correction of financial imbalances since 2000, through the implementation of fiscal reforms including enactment of fiscal responsibility (FR) acts. However, the improvement in the finances of all states in aggregate hides wide disparities between them. Some state governments are already on a sustainable path while some others are far from it. Some have complied with their Fiscal Responsibility acts both in letter and spirit, while others have accumulated off-budget liabilities to unsustainable levels, circumventing the FR acts, which did not specify caps on such liabilities. Moreover, fiscal correction by an Indian state is only a means to an end. The end that is, achievement of development goals-depends on how fiscal space is used, or how efficiently the money is spent to produce outputs and the desired outcomes. A strong fiscal performance will lead both to an improvement in the overall balance via improved structure of revenue and expenditures, with incentives in place to ensure sustained fiscal improvement, and better outcomes associated with budget outlays. Note one examines progress with overall fiscal correction by Indian states during 2000-06. Note two presents case studies of fiscal adjustment experience in three selected states. Finally, note three illustrates how expenditure efficiency could be measured so as to address the challenge of translating outlays to outcomes.

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

  • Publication
    Lebanon Economic Monitor, Fall 2022
    (Washington, DC, 2022-11) World Bank
    The economy continues to contract, albeit at a somewhat slower pace. Public finances improved in 2021, but only because spending collapsed faster than revenue generation. Testament to the continued atrophy of Lebanon’s economy, the Lebanese Pound continues to depreciate sharply. The sharp deterioration in the currency continues to drive surging inflation, in triple digits since July 2020, impacting the poor and vulnerable the most. An unprecedented institutional vacuum will likely further delay any agreement on crisis resolution and much needed reforms; this includes prior actions as part of the April 2022 International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff-level agreement (SLA). Divergent views among key stakeholders on how to distribute the financial losses remains the main bottleneck for reaching an agreement on a comprehensive reform agenda. Lebanon needs to urgently adopt a domestic, equitable, and comprehensive solution that is predicated on: (i) addressing upfront the balance sheet impairments, (ii) restoring liquidity, and (iii) adhering to sound global practices of bail-in solutions based on a hierarchy of creditors (starting with banks’ shareholders) that protects small depositors.
  • Publication
    Global Economic Prospects, June 2024
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-06-11) World Bank
    After several years of negative shocks, global growth is expected to hold steady in 2024 and then edge up in the next couple of years, in part aided by cautious monetary policy easing as inflation gradually declines. However, economic prospects are envisaged to remain tepid, especially in the most vulnerable countries. Risks to the outlook, while more balanced, are still tilted to the downside, including the possibility of escalating geopolitical tensions, further trade fragmentation, and higher-for-longer interest rates. Natural disasters related to climate change could also hinder activity. Subdued growth prospects across many emerging market and developing economies and continued risks underscore the need for decisive policy action at the global and national levels. Global Economic Prospects is a World Bank Group Flagship Report that examines global economic developments and prospects, with a special focus on emerging market and developing economies, on a semiannual basis (in January and June). Each edition includes analytical pieces on topical policy challenges faced by these economies.
  • Publication
    Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21) Luna-Bazaldua, Diego; Levin, Victoria; Liberman, Julia; Gala, Priyal Mukesh
    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
    Argentina Country Climate and Development Report
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11) World Bank Group
    The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentina’s growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentina’s potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentina’s context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the country’s growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.
  • Publication
    World Development Report 2006
    (Washington, DC, 2005) World Bank
    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.