G20 Fiscal Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

(Percent of G20 GDP, left panel; percent of national GDP, right panel)

Countries are providing massive fiscal support in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Sources: IMF 2009a; IMF 2009b; national authorities; and IMF staff estimates as of May 13, 2020.

Note: Panel 1 includes above-the-line spending and revenue measures only, weighted by GDP in PPP-adjusted current US dollars. Estimates exclude deferral of taxes and social security contributions, and advanced spending to the extent possible and data are available. Panel 2 adds below-the-line measures (loans, equity injections) and government guarantees to revenue and expenditure measures adopted in 2020. These are presented in the same panel for ease of reference but are not additive; see Special Feature Online Annex in April 2020 Fiscal Monitor. G7 = Group of Seven; G20 = Group of Twenty; PPP = purchasing power parity.

Current Fiscal Issues

Fiscal Monitor - April 2020

Chapter 1 of April 2020 edition of Fiscal Monitor discusses fiscal policies to save lives, support people in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A key priority is to fully accommodate additional health spending. Large, temporary and targeted support is urgently needed for affected workers and firms until the emergency abates. Chapter 2 of the April 2020 edition of the Fiscal Monitor discusses fiscal policies to reinvigorate economic growth and counter adverse macroeconomic shocks with IDEAS: Invest for the future—in health systems, infrastructure, low carbon technologies, education, and research; adopt well-planned Discretionary policies that can be deployed quickly; and Enhance Automatic Stabilizers. Chapter 3 discusses how state-owned enterprises have evolved in recent decades and how countries can get the most out of them. This includes ensuring the firm’s managers have the right incentives and there is effective oversight and a high degree of transparency.

Fiscal Monitor: How to Mitigate Climate Change (October 2019)

The October 2019 edition of the Fiscal Monitor focuses on the design of fiscal policies for climate mitigation at the domestic and international level. This report emphasizes the case for using carbon taxes, or similar pricing schemes such as emission trading systems, to implement climate mitigation strategies, and provides a quantitative framework for understanding their effects and trade-offs.

Special Series on COVID-19

The Special Series notes are produced by IMF experts to help members address the economic effects of COVID-19. The series addresses issues in tax policy, tax administration, public financial management, expenditure policy, and macro-fiscal policies.

Global debt  

Global debt is at all times high.



Blogs

CHART OF THE WEEK Tracking the $9 Trillion Global Fiscal Support to Fight COVID-19


State-Owned Enterprises in the Time of COVID-19


Fiscal Policies for the Recovery from COVID-19


Fiscal Policies to Contain the Damage from COVID-19
Economic Policies for the COVID-19 War


Technical Notes

How to Design Tax Policy in Fragile States
Revenue Administration : Short-Term Measures to Increase Customs Revenue in Low-Income and Fragile Countries
Tax Expenditure Reporting and Its Use in Fiscal Management : A Guide for Developing Economies

Working Papers

r minus g negative: Can We Sleep More Soundly?
Household Consumption Volatility and Poverty Risk: Case Studies from South Africa and Tanzania
Exploring Residual Profit Allocation
Vietnam's Development Success Story and the Unfinished SDG Agenda
Exploring the Output Effect of Fiscal Policy Shocks in Low Income Countries
Debt Is Not Free

Country Reports