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Choosing the pace of fiscal consolidation

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  • Łukasz Rawdanowicz

Abstract

In many OECD countries debt has soared to levels threatening fiscal sustainability, necessitating its reduction over the medium to longer term. This paper proposes a stylised model, featuring endogenous interactions between fiscal policy, growth and financial markets, to highlight how economic shocks and structural features of an economy can affect consolidation strategy and resulting growth and inflation developments. The fiscal authorities are assumed to choose a consolidation path from a predetermined set of possible paths by maximising cumulative GDP growth and minimising cumulative squared output gaps, with the objective to reach a given debtto- GDP level within a finite horizon and stabilise debt afterwards under the assumption of the unchanged fiscal policy stance. Illustrative simulations for a hypothetical economy show, among other things, that by requiring debt to stabilise part of the initial adjustment can be reversed; some stepping up of the fiscal adjustment can be optimal if bond yields increase due to an exogenous shock; and for some debt reduction targets, high fiscal multipliers, hysteresis effects and higher government bond yields imply protracted deflation and large negative output gaps, stressing the need to select reasonable fiscal targets consistent with market conditions. JEL classification: E61, E62, H6 Keywords: Fiscal consolidation, sovereign debt, government budget balance, fiscal rules

Suggested Citation

  • Łukasz Rawdanowicz, 2014. "Choosing the pace of fiscal consolidation," OECD Journal: Economic Studies, OECD Publishing, vol. 2013(1), pages 91-119.
  • Handle: RePEc:oec:ecokac:5k3tq96mbr44
    DOI: 10.1787/eco_studies-2013-5k3tq96mbr44
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    Cited by:

    1. Lucia Mihokova, 2017. "Fiscal Consolidation Start and its Determinants Analysis Within European Member Countries," Montenegrin Journal of Economics, Economic Laboratory for Transition Research (ELIT), vol. 13(3), pages 135-148.
    2. Boris Cournède & Antoine Goujard & Álvaro Pina, 2013. "How to Achieve Growth- and Equity-friendly Fiscal Consolidation?: A Proposed Methodology for Instrument Choice with an Illustrative Application to OECD Countries," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1088, OECD Publishing.
    3. Vybhavi Balasundharam & Olivier Basdevant & Dalmacio Benicio & Andrew Ceber & Yujin Kim & Luca Mazzone & Hoda Selim & Yongzheng Yang, 2023. "Fiscal Consolidation: Taking Stock of Success Factors, Impact, and Design," IMF Working Papers 2023/063, International Monetary Fund.
    4. Keränen, Henri & Kuusi, Tero, 2016. "The EU’s Fiscal Targets and Their Economic Impact in Finland," ETLA Working Papers 33, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    5. Maebayashi, Noritaka, 2021. "Paces of fiscal consolidations, fiscal sustainability, and welfare: An overlapping generations approach," MPRA Paper 109059, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Lakuma, Corti Paul & Mawejje, Joseph & Lwanga, Musa Mayanja & Munyambonera, Ezra, 2018. "The distributional impacts of fiscal consolidation in Uganda," Research Series 275660, Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC).
    7. Łukasz Rawdanowicz & Romain Bouis & Kei-Ichiro Inaba & Ane Kathrine Christensen, 2014. "Secular Stagnation: Evidence and Implications for Economic Policy," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1169, OECD Publishing.
    8. Annabelle Mourougane & Jarmila Botev & Jean-Marc Fournier & Nigel Pain & Elena Rusticelli, 2016. "Can an Increase in Public Investment Sustainably Lift Economic Growth?," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1351, OECD Publishing.
    9. Maebayashi, Noritaka, 2021. "The pace of fiscal consolidations, fiscal sustainability, and welfare: An overlapping generations approach," MPRA Paper 112593, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 30 Feb 2022.
    10. Åsa Johansson & Yvan Guillemette & Fabrice Murtin & David Turner & Giuseppe Nicoletti & Christine de la Maisonneuve & Philip Bagnoli & Guillaume Bousquet & Francesca Spinelli, 2013. "Long-Term Growth Scenarios," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1000, OECD Publishing.
    11. Maebayashi, Noritaka, 2023. "The pace of fiscal consolidations, fiscal sustainability, and welfare: An overlapping generations approach," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    12. Jarmila Botev & Jean-Marc Fournier & Annabelle Mourougane, 2016. "A Re-assessment of Fiscal Space in OECD Countries," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1352, OECD Publishing.
    13. Kuusi, Tero, 2014. "Consolidation under the Europe’s New Fiscal Rules: Analyzing the Implied Minimum Fiscal Effort," ETLA Working Papers 23, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    14. repec:mje:mjejnl:v:12:y:2017:i:3:p:135-148 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Jarmila Botev & Annabelle Mourougane, 2017. "Fiscal Consolidation: What Are the Breakeven Fiscal Multipliers?," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 63(3), pages 295-316.
    16. Falilou Fall & Debra Bloch & Jean-Marc Fournier & Peter Hoeller, 2015. "Prudent debt targets and fiscal frameworks," OECD Economic Policy Papers 15, OECD Publishing.
    17. Raffaele Fargnoli, 2020. "Adapting the EU Economic Governance to New Macroeconomic and Political Realities," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics;Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), vol. 55(5), pages 320-324, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    fiscal consolidation; sovereign debt; government budget balance; fiscal rules;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E61 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Policy Objectives; Policy Designs and Consistency; Policy Coordination
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • H6 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt

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