An Updated Action-based Dataset of Fiscal Consolidation

IMF Working Papers, September 27, 2024

Source details

Geographic coverage:
- 17 OECD economies during 1978-2020
- 14 economies in Latin America and the Caribbean during 1989-2020
Focus:
- Discretionary changes in taxes and government spending primarily motivated by a desire to reduce the budget deficit and not by a response to prospective economic conditions
Sources examined to identify motivation and budgetary impact:
- Contemporaneous policy documents, including central bank reports
- Convergence Programmes and Stability Programmes submitted by the authorities to the European Commission
- IMF and OECD reports

Identification approach:
- Manual examination of contemporaneous policy documents to determine the motivation (deficit reduction intent) and budgetary impact of fiscal policy changes
Primary intended use:
- The resulting series can be used to estimate the macroeconomic effects of fiscal consolidation

Subject: Asset and liability management; Consumption taxes; Debt reduction; Fiscal consolidation; Fiscal performance assessment; Fiscal policy; Government debt management; Public financial management (PFM); Taxes
Keywords: Caribbean; consumption tax hike; Consumption taxes; dataset of fiscal consolidation; Debt reduction; Fiscal consolidation; fiscal consolidation plan; Fiscal performance assessment; Fiscal policy; Government debt management; government expenditure; IMF working paper No. 24/210; OECD report; taxation