Spring Meetings

Fiscal measures to support people and firms have reached a massive $12 trillion globally. This corner reviews the economic benefits and costs, implementation challenges, and budget risks of firm support measures, drawing on a new database.

Notwithstanding its past progress, the Middle East and Central Asia region continues to face the central challenge of improving social conditions and boosting inclusive growth. The COVID-19 pandemic has further magnified this challenge and brought into sharp focus the urgent need for higher social spending, particularly on health and social protection, to save lives and protect the most vulnerable. Social spending is a key policy lever for supporting and promoting inclusive growth. Our key findings are as follows: (i) despite notable progress, countries in the region still lag global peers in socioeconomic outcomes as well as in levels of public social spending; (ii) public spending on education, health, and social protection can have a meaningful impact on socioeconomic outcomes; (iii) this underscores the case for increasing budgetary allocation on social spending wherever feasible, and (iv) more importantly, boosting efficiency of that spending. Improving efficiency of social spending in the region may require better targeting of social protection, addressing existing gaps, promoting financial inclusion, and strengthening institutions and improving transparency and accountability.

A wave of insolvencies due to COVID-19 can cause severe economic damage. Strategies to “flatten the curve” of insolvencies are needed to restructure large numbers of businesses in a short time, reserving judicial resources for complex cases.
 

How does the Fund’s approach linking procurement transparency and beneficial ownership information of awarded companies provide tools to countries to effectively tackle the misuse of public funds that should be used to fight the pandemic, and not line the pockets of the corrupt?