scholarly journals Ensuring Stable and Inclusive Growth in Pakistan

2008 ◽  
Vol 13 (Special Edition) ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahid Amjad Chaudhry

The article provides an overview of the Pakistani economy and addresses various sectoral issues currently being faced by the economy. The first and the most critical problem highlighted concerns the protection of the poor. Other issues highlighted relate to education, healthcare, housing, taxation and energy. This paper discusses how the current account deficit needs to be tackled by higher tariffs, exchange rate adjustments, and possible export duties. The paper also discusses the need to reduce the cost of production for industry and upgrade governance through an emphasis on the local government system. Regarding public sector investments, the paper explains how the government needs to be transparent about the Public Sector Development Programme, and allow projects to be executed by the provinces.

1998 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 619-639 ◽  
Author(s):  
MANUEL A. R. DA FONSECA

One of the main conclusions of this commentary is that the Real plan – the stabilisation programme introduced in Brazil in July 1994 which was quite successful in bringing inflation down from the extremely high levels that prevailed before that period – did not attack the main cause of the country's inflation, that is, the large financial imbalance in the public sector. Instead, inflation was reduced in an indirect way, by freezing government-controlled prices and wages. In mid-1998, the programme still relies on extremely high interest rates and a tight control of the exchange rate. The main weakness of the plan is that, with the overvalued currency, trade deficits are accumulating. Also, very high interest rates have brought the economy to a halt and caused a sharp increase in the government debt.


1998 ◽  
Vol 37 (4II) ◽  
pp. 299-327
Author(s):  
Nadeem ul Haq

“Civil service reform,” which has become the nickname for public sector management reform in the parlance of development economics, has only recently and grudgingly been accepted by those who advise on policy in the poor countries. Even then, the approach is somewhat paternalistic in that it emphasises externally-designed rules and processes for management, organisation, audit and accountability. It recognises the role of people in terms of noting that incentives and employment policies matter but only in terms of right-sizing the government and second to the need to spread budgetary resources over the politically chosen level of employment. What it does not accept is that and the drive to manage the public sector better has to be led and implemented by the domestic talent and in that they must have both the incentive and the honour of doing just that. This paper argues that the main reason that the public sector management has suffered in many of the poor countries is that incentives have been allowed to erode rapidly as public sector employment was viewed politically as a means of providing welfare.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel Boyer

In the assessment of the cost of public funds, there is a pervasive economic fallacy that is frequently repeated in public policy circles: because the cost of borrowing is higher for a private-sector firm than it is for a public-sector firm, the cost of carrying out an activity (investment, production, distribution, provision of goods and services, and borrowing) will necessarily be lower ceteris paribus in the public sector than in the private sector. The statement is erroneous because part of the government’s cost of borrowing, namely the risk borne by citizens, customers, and taxpayers, is hidden from the casual observer of market interest rates or yields. The all-inclusive borrowing cost, more generally the all-inclusive cost of capital, is the same for both the public and the private sectors. I discuss four specific real cases in which the error is present: the Quebec Generations Fund, the Québec CDPQ Infra–Réseu express métropolitain project, the Infrastructure Ontario methodology to assess the riskiness of costs, and the BC Hydro Site C hydroelectric megaproject. I also discuss a general fifth case, namely government support programs for businesses (grants, loans, guarantees, subsidies, etc.), which are generally justified on the fallacious claim that the cost of financing is lower for the government than for the private sector. I propose an auction process by which the true cost of business support programs could be made transparent. I conclude with an appeal for a more rigorous use and management of public funds because miscalculation, misinformation, mismanagement, and fallacious analysis will eventually backfire.


1995 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 663-682 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Beckerman

AbstractThe essential explanation of Argentina's 1989 hyperinflations is that the stabilisation programmes immediately preceding them drove the public sector in particular, the central bank – into ‘debt distress.’ These stabilisation programmes sought to anchor prices on an appreciated exchange rate, sustained by tight monetary policies that maintained high interest rates. The problem was that the government and the central bank had heavy domestic-debt burdens, and their combined interest bill far exceeded their non-interest surplus. To finance the interest without creating money, the government and central bank had to add continually to the outstanding debt stock as they capitalised the interest due. The debt swelled, and interest rates were pressured upward. Heavy pressure against the exchange rate, devaluation and hyperinflation then ensued when the public-sector debt stock exceeded what financial markets could be persuaded to hold at reasonable interest rates.


Author(s):  
Maruf Ahmad ◽  

The government of Bangladesh recognizes public-private partnerships (PPPs) as a strong catalyst for implementing infrastructure projects. The study conducted to assess the performance of the public sector and measure the cost of service with service quality in infrastructure projects under PPP. The survey focused on 35 government and nongovernment officials from PPP implementing agencies and academicians using a structured questionnaire. The performance of the public sector was assessed with 16 selected indicators. Among them Performances of the public sector in case of land acquisition for infrastructure, exemption of taxes and import duties, linked project, addressing socioeconomic issues were good enough. The findings of the study also revealed that the public sector’s performances in coordination, environmental relationship and communications, interorganizational trust and satisfaction level of the private sector are low. Besides this cost of providing service under PPP projects are increases but customers are satisfied with the higher paid services. Considering the views that starting PPP with weak coordination, lower inter-organizational trust, lower satisfaction level of the private sector, the Government of Bangladesh should take initiative for improving trust through open dialogue with the private sector and through developing a social audit model for PPP implementation.


2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Len Cook ◽  
Robert Hughes

The New Zealand economy in the early months of 2009 faces challenges of historicmagnitude. The size of the public sector in the New Zealand economy makes it arguably the most important single player to manage the current situation. We can expect Keynesian policies designed to stimulate spending by consumers and businesses to be important. The poor economic outlook and policies to stimulate the economy mean that the government is faced with severe constraints on budgets and strong pressures to achieve high value for the money  expended on public services.


2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-281
Author(s):  
Sylvia Dümmer Scheel

El artículo analiza la diplomacia pública del gobierno de Lázaro Cárdenas centrándose en su opción por publicitar la pobreza nacional en el extranjero, especialmente en Estados Unidos. Se plantea que se trató de una estrategia inédita, que accedió a poner en riesgo el “prestigio nacional” con el fin de justificar ante la opinión pública estadounidense la necesidad de implementar las reformas contenidas en el Plan Sexenal. Aprovechando la inusual empatía hacia los pobres en tiempos del New Deal, se construyó una imagen específica de pobreza que fuera higiénica y redimible. Ésta, sin embargo, no generó consenso entre los mexicanos. This article analyzes the public diplomacy of the government of Lázaro Cárdenas, focusing on the administration’s decision to publicize the nation’s poverty internationally, especially in the United States. This study suggests that this was an unprecedented strategy, putting “national prestige” at risk in order to explain the importance of implementing the reforms contained in the Six Year Plan, in the face of public opinion in the United States. Taking advantage of the increased empathy felt towards the poor during the New Deal, a specific image of hygienic and redeemable poverty was constructed. However, this strategy did not generate agreement among Mexicans.


2008 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
Maniam Kaliannan

The quest to improve the government service delivery is becoming an important agenda for most governments. The introduction oflCT in the public sector especially E-Government initiatives opens up a new chapter in the government administration throughout the world. Governments have deployed ICT to serve their citizens in an efficient and effective manner. This paper presents an empirical investigation of Malaysian government's e-Procurement initiative (locally known as e-Perolehan). The aim of the paper is to examine factors that influence the current and future use of the system within the supplier community. These factors are grouped in three perspectives, (i) organizational perspective; (ii) technological perspective; and (Hi) environmental perspective. The general consensus amongst both the buyer and seller communities is that e-procurement will become an important management tool to enhance the performance of supply chain especially in the public sector. However, before this occurs, the findings suggest that several issues must be addressed by the relevant authorities in light of the three perspectives as mentioned above, to improve the procurement process at the federal government level.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 352
Author(s):  
Alex Oguso ◽  
Francis M. Mwega ◽  
Nelson H. Wawire ◽  
Purna Samanta

<p><em>Kenya needs substantial and sustained fiscal consolidation to create fiscal space for financing the government’s election pledges, the Vision 2030 development projects, and sustainable development goals. However, the government has found it hard to sustain its fiscal consolidation attempts. This study investigates the fiscal consolidation constraints that act through the budget imbalance dynamics in Kenya using the </em><em>Olivera-Tanzi effect approach.</em><em> The study covers the period 2000-2015</em><em> using time series data and employs three </em><em>Auto-regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) error correction models</em><em> in the analysis. The study showed that a </em><em>rise in the general price levels in the economy, adjustment of minimum wages, rise</em><em> in perceived levels of corruption in the public sector and the political budget cycles (occurrence of a general election) worsen the budget imbalances (deficits) thus </em><em>constrain fiscal consolidation efforts in Kenya. The study also demonstrated that </em><em>budget imbalance dynamics in Kenya could partly be explained by the Olivera-Tanzi proposition. </em><em>The study rec</em><em>ommends measures to reduce the fiscal imbalance gap in Kenya, which include controlling both supply and demand side inflationary pressure and dealing with rent seeking behavior in the public sector.</em></p>


Author(s):  
Sergei Aleksandrovich Konovalenko ◽  
Georgy Ismaylovich Harada ◽  
Nazirkhan Gadzhievich Gadzhiev

Implementation of the decisions made in the course of management of economic and socio-political development of the state causes the adequate financial flows forming the budgetary sphere of the state. The trouble in this sphere does not allow to provide the necessary level of economic growth, hampers reforming of the economy, makes negative impact on commercial and foreign economic activity, interferes with improvement of monetary and credit, tax, insurance and other spheres of the financial system of the Russian Federation. The offenses connected with corruption and theft of budget funds committed by officials at various levels significantly undermine the authority of the government, cause a growth of discontent of society and impact the social and economic situation in the country. The practice of identifying the offenses connected with theft of public funds and property shows that practically all spheres of the public sector of economy are, to a greater or lesser extent, subject to the risks of such crimes commitment. In this regard, a research of methods and ways of assessment of corruption theft amount in the public sector of the economy is an important and hot topic. The main types of public funds theft have been analyzed, including theft of budget funds allocated in the form of grants for targeted measures; theft by overcharging the prices of goods and services used for the state needs; the acquisition of inventory for personal use of the heads of public companies at the expense of the company, etc. The dynamics of the amount of budget crimes in the Ryazan region has been analyzed. It was inferred that corruption crimes in the public sector of the Ryazan region include fraud, abuse of power, abuse of authority, illegal participation in business, as well as taking bribes. A set of measures for preventing the above crimes has been proposed.


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