Design of fiscal consolidation packages and model-based fiscal multipliers in Croatia

The widening fiscal deficits and the increase of public debt triggered by the COVID-19 crisis suggest that fiscal policy makers will have to engage in substantial fiscal consolidation in order to stabilize public finances in the mid run. However, the implementation of a fiscal consolidation package,...

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Main Authors: Milan Deskar-Skrbic, Darjan Milutinovic
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Institute of Public Finance 2021-03-01
Series:Public Sector Economics
Subjects:
Online Access: http://www.pse-journal.hr/upload/files/pse/2021/1/1.pdf
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author Milan Deskar-Skrbic
Darjan Milutinovic
author_facet Milan Deskar-Skrbic
Darjan Milutinovic
author_sort Milan Deskar-Skrbic
collection DOAJ
description The widening fiscal deficits and the increase of public debt triggered by the COVID-19 crisis suggest that fiscal policy makers will have to engage in substantial fiscal consolidation in order to stabilize public finances in the mid run. However, the implementation of a fiscal consolidation package, if it is not properly designed, can be detrimental for growth and even lead to a self-defeating outcome. In order to avoid this undesirable scenario, fiscal policy makers should rely on growth-friendly consolidation packages. The design of growth-friendly fiscal consolidation packages requires an understanding of the size of multipliers of different fiscal instruments. Thus, in this paper we provide the first deeper insights into the size of model-based disaggregated fiscal multipliers in Croatia. For this purpose, we have built a semi-structural macro-fiscal model of the Croatian economy and used Croatia’s experience during the fiscal consolidation episode under the excessive deficit procedure (EDP) to retrieve fiscal multipliers, analyse the design of the policy package and provide model-based evaluation of the macroeconomic effects of this consolidation episode. Our results indicate that the fiscal consolidation implemented during the EDP was not growth-friendly and that it was partially self-defeating. We hope that our results can help fiscal policy makers to avoid similar policy mistakes in future fiscal consolidations.
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spelling doaj.art-ab2b90dddee14e35bcec4010460ad10e2022-12-21T19:45:30ZengInstitute of Public FinancePublic Sector Economics2459-88602021-03-0145116110.3326/pse.45.1.16748Design of fiscal consolidation packages and model-based fiscal multipliers in CroatiaMilan Deskar-Skrbic0Darjan Milutinovic1 Croatian National Bank, Modelling Department, Zagreb, Croatia Croatian National Bank, Economic Analysis Department, Zagreb, Croatia The widening fiscal deficits and the increase of public debt triggered by the COVID-19 crisis suggest that fiscal policy makers will have to engage in substantial fiscal consolidation in order to stabilize public finances in the mid run. However, the implementation of a fiscal consolidation package, if it is not properly designed, can be detrimental for growth and even lead to a self-defeating outcome. In order to avoid this undesirable scenario, fiscal policy makers should rely on growth-friendly consolidation packages. The design of growth-friendly fiscal consolidation packages requires an understanding of the size of multipliers of different fiscal instruments. Thus, in this paper we provide the first deeper insights into the size of model-based disaggregated fiscal multipliers in Croatia. For this purpose, we have built a semi-structural macro-fiscal model of the Croatian economy and used Croatia’s experience during the fiscal consolidation episode under the excessive deficit procedure (EDP) to retrieve fiscal multipliers, analyse the design of the policy package and provide model-based evaluation of the macroeconomic effects of this consolidation episode. Our results indicate that the fiscal consolidation implemented during the EDP was not growth-friendly and that it was partially self-defeating. We hope that our results can help fiscal policy makers to avoid similar policy mistakes in future fiscal consolidations. http://www.pse-journal.hr/upload/files/pse/2021/1/1.pdf fiscal consolidation; fiscal multipliers; croatia; economic modelling
spellingShingle Milan Deskar-Skrbic
Darjan Milutinovic
Design of fiscal consolidation packages and model-based fiscal multipliers in Croatia
Public Sector Economics
fiscal consolidation; fiscal multipliers; croatia; economic modelling
title Design of fiscal consolidation packages and model-based fiscal multipliers in Croatia
title_full Design of fiscal consolidation packages and model-based fiscal multipliers in Croatia
title_fullStr Design of fiscal consolidation packages and model-based fiscal multipliers in Croatia
title_full_unstemmed Design of fiscal consolidation packages and model-based fiscal multipliers in Croatia
title_short Design of fiscal consolidation packages and model-based fiscal multipliers in Croatia
title_sort design of fiscal consolidation packages and model based fiscal multipliers in croatia
topic fiscal consolidation; fiscal multipliers; croatia; economic modelling
url http://www.pse-journal.hr/upload/files/pse/2021/1/1.pdf
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AT darjanmilutinovic designoffiscalconsolidationpackagesandmodelbasedfiscalmultipliersincroatia