## Russian Federation: Selected Issues

_IMF Staff Country Reports, August 2, 2019_

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Russian Federation: Selected Issues](https://www.imf.org/en/publications/cr/issues/2019/08/01/russian-federation-selected-issues-48550)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/en/publications/cr/issues/2019/08/01/russian-federation-selected-issues-48550/index.md)
- [Structured JSON version](/en/publications/cr/issues/2019/08/01/russian-federation-selected-issues-48550/index.json)
- [Bundle manifest](/en/publications/cr/issues/2019/08/01/russian-federation-selected-issues-48550/bundle-manifest.json)

## Bibliographic details
- Published: August 2, 2019
- Series: IMF Staff Country Reports
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781513509716.002

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### Summary and main findings
- Focus: potential to improve government efficiency and reduce opportunities for corruption in Russia by further improving fiscal transparency.
- Context: analysis carried out in the context of the 2018 Framework for Enhanced IMF Engagement in Governance.
- Cross-country evidence: fiscal transparency is broadly and robustly correlated with better outcomes, including:
  - lower financing costs;
  - better efficiency of public investment and revenue collection;
  - improved corruption perceptions.
- The IMF’s fiscal transparency evaluations provide an alternative to the Open Budget Survey.

### Analysis and methodology
- Empirical approach: panel regressions are used to investigate the impact of fiscal transparency on corruption perceptions and to investigate the possibility of omitted variables.
- Limitations: regressions analysis can mitigate the risk of omitted variables but leaves the issue of causality unresolved.
- Broader inference: fully disentangling all the causal links among corruption, institutions, and economic development may not be feasible.

### Policy implications and recommendations
- Improve fiscal transparency as a lever to:
  - enhance government efficiency;
  - reduce opportunities for corruption;
  - lower public-sector financing costs;
  - increase the efficiency of public investment and revenue collection.
- Use IMF fiscal transparency evaluations as a diagnostic and reform-targeting tool alongside existing measures such as the Open Budget Survey.

*International Monetary Fund. European Dept. "Russian Federation: Selected Issues", IMF Staff Country Reports 2019, 261 (2019).*

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## Content in this bundle

- **Russian Federation: Selected Issues ; IMF Country Report No. 19/261; June 25, 2019**
  - [Russian Federation: Selected Issues ; IMF Country Report No. 19/261; June 25, 2019 (Markdown version)](/-/media/files/publications/cr/2019/1rusea2019002.pdf.md){rel="alternate" type="text/markdown"}
  - [Russian Federation: Selected Issues ; IMF Country Report No. 19/261; June 25, 2019 (PDF)](/-/media/files/publications/cr/2019/1rusea2019002.pdf){rel="external" type="application/pdf"}

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/cr/issues/2019/08/01/russian-federation-selected-issues-48550_