Toward a Growth-Friendly Fiscal Consolidation in Belgium - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Toward a Growth-Friendly Fiscal Consolidation in Belgium write by Jean-Jacques Hallaert. This book was released on 2015. Toward a Growth-Friendly Fiscal Consolidation in Belgium available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Belgium faces two main fiscal challenges that call for a durable fiscal consolidation. First, at above 105 percent of GDP, public debt creates vulnerabilities. Second, the aging population and early access to pension benefits will lead in the medium term to significant fiscal costs. To address these challenges, the government plans to achieve a balanced budget (both headline and structural) by 2018. The purpose of this paper is to assess whether government plans meet the objectives of growth-friendly and sustainable adjustment. It is organized as follows. The first section describes Belgium's record of fiscal consolidation. The second section highlights the features of a high quality fiscal consolidation in Belgium. The third section analyzes the implications of decentralization for fiscal consolidation.
Belgium
Belgium - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Belgium write by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2011-04-04. Belgium available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Belgium’s impressive past fiscal consolidation is an example for other countries that need to bring down their public debt and also provides insights on how best to address its own current fiscal challenges. Belgium has a unique history of a long and successful large fiscal consolidation. Belgium lived through various episodes of fiscal adjustment and each one of these contains important lessons for future consolidation. After Belgium’s public debt-to-GDP reached a peak of about 135 percent in 1993, it was steadily reduced to about 84 percent by 2007.
Fiscal Consolidation in Belgium
Fiscal Consolidation in Belgium - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Fiscal Consolidation in Belgium write by Yu Ching Wong. This book was released on 2023-12-19. Fiscal Consolidation in Belgium available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Belgium is facing higher structural deficits and rising debt after the pandemic and energy crisis. Fiscal consolidation is needed to lower inflation, rebuild buffers, reduce debt, and preserve Belgium’s social contract. While designing an appropriate fiscal consolidation path involves trade-offs, an ideally front-loaded and significant adjustment to achieve a medium-term structural balance would reduce public debt towards the 60 percent debt threshold, significantly reducing vulnerabilities. Experiences in other countries and in the past in Belgium show that while ambitious, such an adjustment is achievable. Comparisons with peers show that rationalizing and increasing the efficiency of social benefits and the public wage bill would need to be at the core of the consolidation effort. All federal entities should share the burden of the adjustment, in a coordinated manner, with accountability at all levels of government, and within a credible and clear multi-year consolidation plan. Comprehensive spending reviews would help target budgetary saving. To mitigate the growth impact in the near term and boost potential growth, public investment should be preserved, and the adjustment should go together with structural reforms to increase labor force participation and productivity.
Belgium
Belgium - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Belgium write by International Monetary Fund. European Dept.. This book was released on 2015-03-13. Belgium available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. This Selected Issues paper illustrates the recent evolution in Belgian housing prices. Belgian housing prices peaked at the end of 2013 after a persistent increase that was almost continuous for 30 years. The stabilization of prices, combined with policy changes on the fiscal and macro-prudential fronts, raises the question how housing prices are likely to evolve and how a price decline would affect the Belgian economy. The paper assesses the risk of a rapid price correction and the potential repercussions for the real economy. It also argues that an orderly and limited decline in housing prices—coupled with a marginal negative effect on the real economy—is the most plausible scenario.
Italy: Toward a Growth-Friendly Fiscal Reform
Italy: Toward a Growth-Friendly Fiscal Reform - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Italy: Toward a Growth-Friendly Fiscal Reform write by Michal Andrle. This book was released on 2018-03-16. Italy: Toward a Growth-Friendly Fiscal Reform available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Published in late 2017, the Italian medium-term fiscal plan aims to achieve structural balance by 2020, although concrete, high-quality measures to meet the target are yet to be specified. This paper seeks to contribute to the discussion by (i) assessing spending patterns to identify areas for savings; (ii) evaluating the pension system; (iii) analyzing the scope for revenue rebalancing; and (iv) putting forward a package of spending cuts and tax rebalancing that is growth friendly and inclusive, could have limited near-term output costs, and would achieve a notable reduction in public debt over the medium term. Such a package could help the authorities balance the need to bring down public debt and, thus, reduce vulnerabilities while supporting the economic recovery.
