Public Expenditure in Latin America: Trends and Key Policy Issues

This paper examines trends in government spending in Latin America from the mid-1990s to 2006. It also examines key policy issues, including the cyclicality of spending, public investment, public employment, and social expenditures. It finds that primary expenditures have trended upward for the past...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Policy File 2007
Main Authors: Clements, Benedict J, Faircloth, Christopher, Verhoeven, Marijn
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
Budgets/Expenditures
Government
International Monetary Fund
Online Access:Request full text
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Summary:This paper examines trends in government spending in Latin America from the mid-1990s to 2006. It also examines key policy issues, including the cyclicality of spending, public investment, public employment, and social expenditures. It finds that primary expenditures have trended upward for the past ten years as a share of GDP, driven by increases in current spending, in particular for social expenditures. Fluctuations in real spending have continued to follow a procyclical pattern. The paper finds that there is substantial scope to improve the efficiency of public investment, public employment, and social spending.