A Cross-Country Database of Fiscal Space
This paper presents a comprehensive cross-country database of fiscal space, broadly defined as the availability of budgetary resources for a government to service its financial obligations. The database covers up to 200 countries over the period 19...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2017
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/601211501678994591/A-cross-country-database-of-fiscal-space http://hdl.handle.net/10986/27964 |
| Summary: | This paper presents a comprehensive
cross-country database of fiscal space, broadly defined as
the availability of budgetary resources for a government to
service its financial obligations. The database covers up to
200 countries over the period 1990-2016, and includes 28
indicators of fiscal space grouped into four categories:
debt sustainability, balance sheet vulnerability, external
and private sector debt related risks as potential causes of
contingent liabilities, and market access. The authors
illustrate potential applications of the database by
analyzing developments in fiscal space across three time
frames: over the past quarter century; during financial
crises; and during oil price plunges. The main results are
as follows. First, fiscal space had improved in many
countries before the global financial crisis. In advanced
economies, following severe deteriorations during the
crisis, many indicators of fiscal space have virtually
returned to levels in the mid-2000s. In contrast, fiscal
space has shrunk in many emerging market and developing
economies since the crisis. Second, financial crises tend to
coincide with deterioration in multiple indicators of fiscal
space, but they are often followed by reduced reliance on
short-term borrowing. Finally, fiscal space narrows in
energy-exporting emerging market and developing economies
during oil price plunges but later expands, often because of
procyclical fiscal tightening and, in some episodes, a
recovery in oil prices. |
|---|