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When Do We Repair the Roof? Insights from Responses to Fiscal Crisis Early Warning Signals

Author

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  • Mr. Jiro Honda
  • Rene Tapsoba
  • Ismael Issifou

Abstract

Should policymakers wait for fiscal crisis early warning signals before repairing the roof? We give an answer to this question by investigating the interlinkages between early warning signals for fiscal crisis, policy responses, and policy outcomes, using a broad panel of 119 countries. We find that fiscal adjsutment is a good remedy for countries that act proactively, reducing their likelihood of facing fiscal crisis by up to about 60 percent. For those waiting for wake-up calls from early-detection tools, however, fiscal adjustment may not fully prevent fiscal crisis occurrence, with the chance of fiscal crisis prevention not only smaller (about 30 percent) but also statistically not significant. These findings highlight the prominence of repairing the roof when the sun is shining, particularly in countries with weak institutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Mr. Jiro Honda & Rene Tapsoba & Ismael Issifou, 2018. "When Do We Repair the Roof? Insights from Responses to Fiscal Crisis Early Warning Signals," IMF Working Papers 2018/077, International Monetary Fund.
  • Handle: RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2018/077
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    WP; fiscal crisis; crisis; crisis occurrence;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H68 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Forecasts of Budgets, Deficits, and Debt
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • H62 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Deficit; Surplus

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