Publication: Armenia Public Expenditure Review: Improving Spending Efficiency
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2023-11-02
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2023-11-02
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Armenia’s fiscal performance has improved during the past two decades, supported by reforms. Revenue collection has converged with income and regional peers, overall spending levels have remained prudent, and debt levels remain sustainable. Fiscal policy has been counter-cyclical and progressive but has had a limited impact on economic growth. Spending efficiency is a key area of concern. Expenditure efficiency in areas such as infrastructure, road transport, health, and education are significantly behind the global efficiency frontier. The fiscal implications associated with the policy proposals in the 2021-2026 government program are significant. How can fiscal policy support the implementation of the government’s key policy proposals while ensuring the sustainability of public finances This is the main question for this Public Expenditure Review (PER). To answer it, this PER will (i) analyze past fiscal performance; (ii) assess the medium-term fiscal impacts of selected policy proposals that are currently being considered such as increase in pensions, changes to social assistance, increased health expenditures, and increased capital expenditure; and (iii) propose options to improve spending efficiency in select areas to provide options for the government to use the available fiscal space to effectively implement these policy proposals.
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“World Bank. 2023. Armenia Public Expenditure Review: Improving Spending Efficiency. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/40563 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”
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