Bulgaria - Public Expenditure Issues and Directions for Reform : A Public Expenditure and Institutional Review

[摘要] A long period of economic mismanagementand political instability in the early 1990s, delayedBulgaria's transition from planned, to market economyby nearly a decade, leading to the collapse ofBulgaria's economy in 1996-97. The introduction of aCurrency Board Arrangement (CBA) in July 1997 and thesubsequent implementation of sound macroeconomic andstructural policies succeeded in restoring growth, abatinginflation and improving public and investors confidence. TheCBA has been underpinned by a conservative fiscal policy anda sharp acceleration of structural reforms. Budgetaryinstitutions and processes were overhauled to enhancetransparency and ensure fiscal discipline. The wide-rangingstructural reforms program encompassed liberalization inagriculture, energy, privatization in the enterprise sector,as well as reform of the social sector. First generationreforms, including price and trade liberalization, havelargely been implemented and the privatization/liquidationprogram has to a large extent eliminated thevalue-subtracting activities. Dominating the country'sreform agenda are now the second-generation reforms, tocomplete the transition from planned, to market, inparticular reforms to establish the institutionalfoundations. Part I reviews overall public expenditurelevel, and discusses the sustainability of fiscal policytaking into account revenues and expenditure prospects, debtand growth targets. A fiscal sustainability analysis wasperformed with the participation of Bulgarian counterparts,to integrate fiscal sustainability simulations into thestandard macro-economic analysis underpinning annualbudgets. Functional and economic analysis of expenditurehighlights issues of trade-offs, and priorities acrossexpenditure categories. Building on the previous section,Part II assesses the fiscal impact of structural reforms inhealth, education, social protection, energy and transport,and, deepens the dialogue on policy reforms, highlightingthe fiscal implications of alternative options as well astheir social impact. Assessment of poverty within publicexpenditures is based on the results of the poverty update.

[发布日期] 2002-08-31

[学科分类] 社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

[关键词] ACCESSION COUNTRIES;ACCOUNTING;AUTHORITY;BALANCE OF PAYMENTS;BENEFIT INCIDENCE