Discussion paper

DP7859 Fiscal Policy and the Current Account

This paper examines the relationship between fiscal policy and the current account, drawing on a larger country sample than in previous studies and using panel regressions, vector auto-regressions, and an analysis of large fiscal and external adjustments. On average, a strengthening in the fiscal balance by 1 percentage point of GDP is associated with a current account improvement of 0.2?0.3 percentage point of GDP. This association is as strong in emerging and low-income countries as it is in advanced economies; and significantly higher when output is above potential.

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Citation

Fatas, A, P Mauro, S Ali Abbas, J Bouhga-Hagbe and R Velloso (2010), ‘DP7859 Fiscal Policy and the Current Account‘, CEPR Discussion Paper No. 7859. CEPR Press, Paris & London. https://cepr.org/publications/dp7859