“People, Planet, & Public Finance”: Not Just Another Climate Change Podcast

Posted by Delaine McCullough and Paul Steele[1]

A new space for discussing issues related to the use of public finance systems for addressing the climate crisis, build equitable and resilient societies, and strengthen environmental stewardship was launched this week.

Join the IMF Anti-Corruption Challenge!

Posted by Thibault Vermeulen

Do you want to join the fight against corruption by finding good IT solutions? The IMF Anti-Corruption Challenge has just been launched!  Check out the #anticorruption #IMFchallenge on the following link .This initiative seeks collaborative project proposals from country authorities, relevant civil society organizations (CSOs), and staff from the IMF and other International Financial Institutions on the following topics:

Revenue Forecasting in Developing Countries: Biases and Potential Remedies

Posted by Rahul Pathak[1]

Revenue forecasting is a critical component of budget preparation and sound management of public finances. In the last couple of decades, rising national and subnational debt burdens have been associated in many countries with substantial biases in forecasts of the fiscal deficit. An important contributing factor is the systematic overestimation of revenues, leading governments to propose higher levels of spending in the budget which are subsequently approved by the legislature. As revenue realization falls short of forecast, reining in spending has proved to be difficult in many countries. This revenue forecast bias could be a result of inaccuracies in the macroeconomic forecasting models, weak institutional capacities of the central budget office,[2] and, most importantly, a manifestation of political preferences.[3] In low and middle-income countries, these factors may assume even more significance and hinder the development of an effective PFM system.