Publication: Bhutan Macroeconomic and Public Finance Policy Note: Hydropower Impact and Public Finance Reforms towards Economic Self-Reliance
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Date
2015-11
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Published
2015-11
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Boyreau, Genevieve
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Abstract
Bhutan’s hydropower generation potential raises the prospect of tremendous development opportunities for the country: fast increasing export revenue, sustained economic growth, and rapid poverty reduction. Driven by developments in the hydropower sector, the country has grown at an average rate of 7 percent per year over the last decade, while poverty has declined remarkably fast. But hydropower development also creates significant challenges as follows: (i) macroeconomic instability; (ii) lack of self-reliance; and (iii) few private sector jobs. This policy note assesses the opportunities and challenges associated with hydropower development. It informs a possible strategy supportive of macroeconomic stability, fiscal self-reliance and private sector development. And it argues that fundamental changes in public finance, amounting to a paradigm shift, are central to the implementation of such strategy.
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“Boyreau, Genevieve; Rama, Martin. 2015. Bhutan Macroeconomic and Public Finance Policy Note: Hydropower Impact and Public Finance Reforms towards Economic Self-Reliance. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24581 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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