Taxes and Spending in Latin America

Latin America has not neglected fiscal policy. Since the end of the debt crisis of the 1980s, governments in the region have tightened their belts assiduously. Fiscal deficits have fallen from 11 per cent of public revenues in the 1970s and 1980s, to only 8 per cent since 2000. The year-to-year volatility of taxes, spending and deficits – long a feature of fiscal policy making in the region with harmful effects for economic performance – has likewise fallen: an index of deficit volatility calculated by the OECD Latin American Economic Outlook 2009 shows a fall of a third from 1990-94 to 2000-06, with Latin America standing just 6 per cent above the volatility levels in OECD countries in the latter period.

OECD Development Centre Policy Insights

Taxes and Spending in Latin America

First Stability, Now Development