Case Studies on Managing Government Compensation and Employment - Institutions, Policies, and Reform Challenges

Case Studies on Managing Government Compensation and Employment - Institutions, Policies, and Reform Challenges
Author: International Monetary Fund
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 99
Release: 2016-12-04
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1498345735

This supplement presents country case studies reviewing country experiences with managing wage bill pressures, which are the basis for the compensation and employment reform lessons identified in the main paper. The selection of countries for the case studies reflects past studies carried out by either the IMF or the World Bank in the context of technical assistance or bilateral surveillance (Table 1). These studies provide important insights into the different sources of wage bill pressures as well as the reform challenges governments have faced when addressing these pressures over the short and medium term. The studies cover 20 countries, including five advanced economies, six countries from sub-Saharan Africa, two countries in developing Asia, one country in the Middle East and North Africa, three countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, and three countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS. The structure of each case study is similar, with each study starting with a presentation of the institutional coverage and framework for setting and managing the wage bill; a description of employment and compensation levels, including their comparison with the private sector; and a discussion of the challenges that motivated the need for reforms and, when applicable, the reforms implemented and lessons derived from these.

Managing Government Compensation and Employment - Institutions, Policies, and Reform Challenges

Managing Government Compensation and Employment - Institutions, Policies, and Reform Challenges
Author: International Monetary Fund. Fiscal Affairs Dept.
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 99
Release: 2016-08-04
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1498345778

Government compensation and employment policies are important for the efficient delivery of public services which are crucial for the functioning of economies and the general prosperity of societies. On average, spending on the wage bill absorbs around one-fifth of total spending. Cross-country variation in wage spending reflects, in part, national choices about the government’s role in priority sectors, as well as variations in the level of economic development and resource constraints.

Government Wage Bill Management and Civil Service Reform in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union

Government Wage Bill Management and Civil Service Reform in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union
Author: Mr.A. E. Wayne Mitchell
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 33
Release: 2019-05-17
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1498304214

In this study, we assess the size of the government wage bill and employment in the member countries of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union and their implications for fiscal sustainability and the adequacy of public service delivery. Over the period 2005 to 2015 their wage bill (as a percentage of GDP, government revenues and expenditures) is higher than in other small states notwithstanding recent efforts by governments to make it more manageable. The composition and distribution of employment is sub-optimal and is reflected in skills mismatches contributing to inefficiencies in public service delivery. Using a dynamic fixed-effects panel, we find that wage bill growth reflects the expansion of government activities to speed up economic and social development and that wage bill spending is procyclical in good times but is rigid during downturns. Finally, we identify the main institutional and legal reforms needed to improve wage bill management and public service efficiency.

International Monetary Fund Annual Report 2017

International Monetary Fund Annual Report 2017
Author: International Monetary Fund
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 114
Release: 2017-10-05
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1484306147

During the past financial year, the IMF’s 189 member countries faced a number of pressing challenges. IMF work on these challenges - slower trade, declining productivity, gender inequality, inclusive growth, and debt management - is a central focus of this 2017 Annual Report.

Public Wage Bills in the Middle East and Central Asia

Public Wage Bills in the Middle East and Central Asia
Author: Ms.Natalia T. Tamirisa
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 95
Release: 2018-01-09
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1484336739

Analysis of policies for managing public sector wage bills in the Middle East and Central Asia region. While some work has been done recently at the Fund on issues related to government employment and compensation, to our knowledge, this is the first study to systematically examine, with a focus on the Middle East and Central Asia region, the recent trends and drivers of public wage bills in the region and to identify key policy implications.

South Africa: 2021 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for South Africa

South Africa: 2021 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for South Africa
Author: International Monetary
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 127
Release: 2022-02-11
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

South Africa’s subpar economic performance over the last decade has weakened its macroeconomic fundamentals and social indicators. In response to formidable COVID-19-related challenges, government expenditure surged, and, amid declining revenue, the budget deficit widened significantly. The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and the Prudential Authority (PA) preserved adequate liquidity conditions and financial-sector stability. The cyclical recovery from the deep contraction has been faster than expected but its strength is unlikely to be sustained. Benign global market conditions have supported asset performance, although term premia are elevated due to fiscal risks. Bank soundness indicators remain solid, but a deepening bank-sovereign nexus raises some concerns.

Civil service reforms in Pakistan

Civil service reforms in Pakistan
Author: Abdul Wajid Rana
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Total Pages: 23
Release: 2019-11-12
Genre: Political Science
ISBN:

Effective governance is one of the key challenges for both developing and developed countries. Governments, today, are increasingly encountering complex and cross-cutting issues such as economic and financial volatility, internal and external conflicts, growing social tensions, adverse demographic trends, climate change vulnerabilities, weak regulatory regimes, huge infrastructure and service delivery gaps, state and elite capturing and sustaining rule of law. Faced with growing criticism of ineffectiveness of state institutions undermining country’s economic, social and political development because of weakening capacity of public officials to pace up with emerging challenges, there is a renewed interest in reforming the governance and reforming the civil service.

Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso
Author: International Monetary Fund. African Dept.
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 23
Release: 2016-12-22
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1475562594

This Selected Issues paper examines the impact of scaled-up public investment in Burkina Faso. The results suggest that “big-push” investment efforts, while designed to accelerate growth, are likely to run up against significant absorption-capacity constraints. These constraints will diminish the efficiency of investment spending and result in lower public capital accumulation and productivity growth than under a more measured approach. The empirical evidence from the experience of many countries also suggests that the results of aggressive scaling-up initiatives are mixed.

Portugal

Portugal
Author: International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 50
Release: 2017-09-15
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1484319400

This paper discusses that the average investment growth needed for Portugal was to achieve the 2-percent and 2.5-percent real GDP growth in the medium term. It is likely that the growth rate of investment must significantly exceed the projected 4.9 percent in order to achieve the GDP growth path envisaged in the 2017 Stability Program. Specifically, per staff estimates, investment needs to grow at around 8.5 percent per year in case the TFP growth remains at -0.26 percent. The challenges confronting Portuguese banks were discussed in the 2016 Article IV staff report, which highlighted low profitability and weak asset quality as key concerns. The regulatory environment has exerted positive pressure insofar as the review of business models has now become an integral part of the supervisory agenda, especially for Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM)-supervised banks. Pursuant to the Capital Requirements Directive IV (CRD-IV), banks’ business models are considered in the Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process (SREP) performed by the supervisory authorities not only to determine capital and liquidity requirements but also to assess banks’ recovery plans.

Fiscal Implications of Government Wage Bill Spending

Fiscal Implications of Government Wage Bill Spending
Author: Mr.Kamil Dybczak
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 33
Release: 2019-01-15
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1484394941

This paper discusses the short- and medium-term fiscal implications of government wage bill spending. Working with a sample of 137 advanced, emerging and low-income countries, we use a panel VAR approach to identify differences in the dynamic behavior of revenues, nonwage expenditures, and the overall fiscal balance in response to changes in the wage bill. We show that the interaction between wage bill changes and these three fiscal items is alike and varies overtime. Higher wage bill spending does not revert in the medium term, but the initial worsening of the fiscal balance associated with it, though it persists, eventually halves as revenues increase while non-wage spending remains broadly unchanged. We also show that countries differ in how these three fiscal variables behave following wage bill changes and seek to explain this variation by a set of country characteristics, including the level of development, access to natural resources and public indebtedness levels.