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

A long period of economic mismanagement and political instability in the early 1990s, delayed Bulgaria's transition from planned, to market economy by nearly a decade, leading to the collapse of Bulgaria's economy in 1996-97. The introduction of a Currency Board Arrangement (CBA) in July 1997 and the subsequent implementation of sound macroeconomic and structural policies succeeded in restoring growth, abating inflation and improving public and investors confidence. The CBA has been underpinned by a conservative fiscal policy and a sharp acceleration of structural reforms. Budgetary institutions and processes were overhauled to enhance transparency and ensure fiscal discipline. The wide-ranging structural reforms program encompassed liberalization in agriculture, energy, privatization in the enterprise sector, as well as reform of the social sector. First generation reforms, including price and trade liberalization, have largely been implemented and the privatization/liquidation program has to a large extent eliminated the value-subtracting activities. Dominating the country's reform agenda are now the second-generation reforms, to complete the transition from planned, to market, in particular reforms to establish the institutional foundations. Part I reviews overall public expenditure level, and discusses the sustainability of fiscal policy taking into account revenues and expenditure prospects, debt and growth targets. A fiscal sustainability analysis was performed with the participation of Bulgarian counterparts, to integrate fiscal sustainability simulations into the standard macro-economic analysis underpinning annual budgets. Functional and economic analysis of expenditure highlights issues of trade-offs, and priorities across expenditure categories. Building on the previous section, Part II assesses the fiscal impact of structural reforms in health, education, social protection, energy and transport, and, deepens the dialogue on policy reforms, highlighting the fiscal implications of alternative options as well as their social impact. Assessment of poverty within public expenditures is based on the results of the poverty update.

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	World Bank
Language:	English
Published:	2002-08-31
Subjects:	ACCESSION COUNTRIES, ACCOUNTING, AUTHORITY, BALANCE OF PAYMENTS, BENEFIT INCIDENCE, BORROWING, BUDGET EXECUTION, BUDGET FORMULATION, BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT, CIVIL SOCIETY, CORPORATE INCOME TAX, COUNCIL OF MINISTERS, CURRENCY UNIT, DEBT, DECISION MAKERS, DECISION MAKING, DEFICITS, DEPENDENCY RATIO, DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS, ECONOMIC ANALYSES, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT, ECONOMIC MEMORANDUM, EDUCATION, EDUCATION LEVEL, ELECTRICITY, ETHNIC GROUPS, EXECUTION, EXPENDITURE REFORM, EXTERNAL SHOCKS, FINANCIAL CONTROL, FINANCIAL DISCIPLINE, FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE, FISCAL, FISCAL BURDEN, FISCAL DECENTRALIZATION, FISCAL DEFICIT, FISCAL DISCIPLINE, FISCAL MANAGEMENT, FISCAL POLICY, FISCAL STANCE, FISCAL SUSTAINABILITY, FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT, FOREIGN EXCHANGE, FOREIGN INVESTMENT, GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, GOVERNMENT REVENUES, GOVERNMENT SPENDING, GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT, GROWTH RATE, HEALTH, HEALTH CARE, HEALTH INDICATORS, HEALTH INSURANCE, HEALTH STATUS, HOSPITALS, HOUSEHOLD SURVEY, IMMUNIZATION, INCOME, INFLATION, INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS, INVESTMENT CLIMATE, LABOR MARKET, LIVING STANDARDS, LOCAL AUTHORITIES, LOCAL GOVERNMENT, MACROECONOMIC MANAGEMENT, MACROECONOMIC STABILITY, MANAGERS, MIGRATION, MINISTRY OF FINANCE, MUNICIPALITIES, OVERALL EXPENDITURE, PHYSICIANS, POLICY DIRECTIONS, POLICY MAKERS, POLIO, POPULATION GROWTH, POPULATION SIZE, POVERTY ASSESSMENT, POVERTY GAP, POVERTY LEVELS, POVERTY REDUCTION, POVERTY STATUS, POVERTY TRENDS, PRIVATE SECTOR, PROFESSIONAL TRAINING, PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, PUBLIC EDUCATION, PUBLIC EXPENDITURE, PUBLIC EXPENDITURE MANAGEMENT, PUBLIC EXPENDITURES, PUBLIC HEALTH, PUBLIC HEALTH EXPENDITURES, PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE, PUBLIC INVESTMENT, PUBLIC SERVICE, PUBLIC SERVICE OBLIGATION, PUBLIC WORKS, PURCHASING POWER, PURCHASING POWER PARITY, QUALITY CONTROL, RATIONALIZATION, REAL TERMS, REFORM PROGRAMS, REPRESENTATIVES, REVENUE PERFORMANCE, RURAL AREAS, SAVINGS, SCHOOLS, SOCIAL ASSISTANCE, SOCIAL INSURANCE, SOCIAL POLICY, SOCIAL PROTECTION, SOCIAL PROTECTION PROGRAMS, SOCIAL PROTECTION SYSTEM, SOCIAL SECTORS, SOCIAL SECURITY, SOFT BUDGET CONSTRAINTS, STATE AGENCIES, STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES, STRUCTURAL REFORM, STRUCTURAL REFORMS, STRUCTURE OF GOVERNMENT, TASK TEAM LEADER, TAX REFORM, TAXATION, TREASURY, UNEMPLOYMENT, UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS, UNEMPLOYMENT RATE, URBAN AREAS PUBLIC EXPENDITURES, TRANSITION ECONOMIES, POLITICAL CONSTRAINTS, CURRENCY BOARDS, MACROECONOMIC POLICY, STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT, REFORM POLICY, BUDGETARY PROCESS, SOCIAL IMPACT, POVERTY UPDATES,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2002/08/1994642/bulgaria-public-expenditure-issues-directions-reform-public-expenditure-institutional-review https://hdl.handle.net/10986/15373
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