The Fiscal Dimensions of Adjustment in Low-Income Countries

A strengthened fiscal position is at the core of most economic adjustment programs supported by IMF lending, especially for the poorer countries that draw on the IMF's structural adjustment facilities. This paper reviews developments in 23 countries and evaluates their experience with fiscal and structural adjustment, including their efforts to design social safety nets to cushion the effects of adjustment.Structural adjustment;Tax reforms;Taxation;Tax administration;Budgetary reforms;Government expenditures;expenditure, fiscal adjustment, capital expenditure, tax revenue, fiscal years, government expenditure, tax system, tax base, public expenditure, expenditure control, total expenditure, budget deficit, fiscal policy, tax ratio, recurrent expenditure, fiscal performance, tax structure, tax reform, budget deficits, revenue collection, government revenue, tax rates, expenditure programs, fiscal deficit, fiscal affairs, central government expenditure, fiscal affairs department, composition of expenditure, expenditure levels, tax policy, expenditures, tax evasion, public expenditure management, expenditure management, fiscal balance, fiscal dimensions of adjustment, efficiency of expenditure, expenditure categories, tax collection, budgetary expenditure, tax payments, fiscal measures, fiscal aggregates, fiscal policies, expenditure policy, fiscal programs, fiscal accounts, social expenditure, expenditure commitments, foreign debt, primary deficit, public sector wage bill, efficiency of government expenditure, government budget, fiscal operations, fiscal retrenchment, fiscal technical assistance, total expenditures, tax authorities, expenditure level, consumption expenditure, tax collections, fiscal structural reform, tax systems, fiscal variables, fiscal objectives, public finances, expansionary fiscal, public debt, expenditure control mechanisms, budget balance, fiscal impact, fiscal issues, aggregate demand, fiscal strategy, central government budget, fiscal structure, fiscal revenues, fiscal adjustment process, higher expenditure, tax ratios, fiscal deficits, investment expenditure, expenditure increases, fiscal reforms, domestic indirect taxes, debt service, fiscal position, improving expenditure control, fiscal advice, fiscal developments, expenditure items, expansionary fiscal policies, tax compliance, general budget, expenditure monitoring, fiscal management, tax effort