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France and Italy have both relied relatively heavily on raising taxes , rather than cutting spending, to reduce borrowing as the chart shows. By the end of , two-thirds of the measures implemented in France were aimed at boosting revenue and one-third at reducing spending. Both France and Italy are on course to become higher tax, higher spending and higher borrowing countries than they were before the crisis hit.
In contrast, the UK has relied mainly on cuts to public spending: The result is that the UK is on course to have a lower level of spending, a similar level of taxation, and a lower level of borrowing than pre-crisis. Each country has raised tax to some degree, and the nature of the tax increases implemented shows up some interesting similarities. France, Spain and the UK also implemented income tax rises aimed at the highest income individuals, while France and the UK both chose to reduce corporation tax rates while widening the base for this tax.
The countries have, however, made rather different choices about spending. France, Italy and Spain refrained from cutting welfare benefits, in stark contrast to Ireland and the UK where cuts to benefit payments for working age adults played a major role. France and the UK have both chosen to afford relative protection to spending on health and education, while Italy and Spain have chosen to cut these services more deeply than other service areas.
Countries have also made divergent choices about which households should bear the brunt.
In Italy households with children have lost less from tax and benefit reforms than pensioner households; the reverse is true in Ireland and the UK. With France, Ireland, Italy, Spain and the UK implementing large fiscal adjustments since the onset of the Great Recession, we might hope that policymakers would have used this moment to improve the efficiency of the tax system and public spending in their countries.
Or, at the very least, we would hope that they did not exacerbate existing inefficiencies. Unfortunately, in many cases, the fiscal response to the crisis has been a missed opportunity. In Ireland, reforms have unnecessarily created uncertainty and distortions. This creates distortions in the economy: Therefore, the increase in the main rate of VAT will have come at the cost of increasing these distortions. The UK income tax schedule has also been made considerably more complicated; take the introduction of a transferable tax allowance for married couples, and the tapering away of child benefit from high income parents.
However, the lesson from the reforms made so far is that we perhaps ought not to be too optimistic. We may have to settle for reforms that do not add to existing deficiencies. European Union flags fly outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels.
A further decrease of 7. Cancellation of 55, work visas to Malaysia in March is adding to concerns about the increasing number of deportees, which nearly doubled to 8, in February Although remittances are still high at trend levels, there are signs of deceleration since February , with a drop of remittance flows by 8.
Preliminary Effects at Household Level The economic down-swing is affecting households' livelihoods casual labour due to low purchasing power and reduced job opportunities, particularly in shrimp-hatcheries, garment factories and tea estates.
This topical volume analyzes the impact of the financial crisis. It considers the origins and explanations of the current crisis, examines the regulatory. PHILIP ARESTIS Cambridge Centre for Economics and Public Policy, Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, UK; Professor of Economics.
On this basis, , new unemployed people have most likely been released onto the job market in the last 6 months. The livelihoods of 1. Focus groups reported a significant decline in incomes, as a result of the fall in foreign currencies dollar and pound , commodity prices, reduced casual labour opportunities and job losses in foreign countries. Women more frequently rely on remittances.
The amount and frequency of remittances decreased in the last 6 months due to job cuts abroad, foreign currency depreciation and high expenses of migrants in host countries. The share of education and health expenses increased from 6 to 7. Households are adopting various coping strategies. Most commonly households are reducing the number of meals and diversifying their income activities in order to bring in more revenue.
Income diversification could lead to child labour or less care provided by mothers to children. Based on the discussions, the main priority needs of households are: Future Outlook The economy is feeling the impact of the ongoing financial crisis and significant downside risks exist in the coming months.
Projections by international financial organisations converge on the fact that GDP growth will be lower ranging from 4.
Growth is expected to expand weakly in before recovering gradually in , leaving no chance for the Bangladeshi economy to gain momentum before Against the backdrop of the deceleration of export growth and remittances, foreign reserves will contract and could consequently weaken the food import capacity of the country and depreciate the exchange rate of the Taka against major currencies.
Currency depreciation could lead to some losses of real income and purchasing power through inflation driven by imported goods.
Furthermore, the central bank monitors and manages the currency composition of foreign exchange reserves. How to submit content. Rich country and emerging market countries including their firms can help. There is much less analysis, however, on the impact on poorer countries — particularly in Africa. Balance Sheet Structures End
An expected increase in government spending for rescue packages including tax breaks, cash subsidies and food rationing programs could lead to monetary financing of increased fiscal deficits beyond the 4. The current estimate of about 0. As to their level, there are serious concerns about health care, food intake, education, debt and other vital services and their implications in terms of food security and nutrition. Focus group discussions revealed a bleak perception of the evolution of the situation.
Households expected that it will take 1 to 2 years to recuperate their income level of 6 months ago. Such a pessimistic outlook is due to the long lasting impact of combined shocks endured since Ongoing Responses and Recommendations On the macro-economic side, the Bank of Bangladesh eased the lending capacity of the commercial banks to the productive and employment intensive sectors by cutting interest rates and relaxing the conditions for opening fresh letters of credit from 90 to days.
Furthermore, the central bank monitors and manages the currency composition of foreign exchange reserves. The government will also expand the open market sale program to provide subsidized rice to all workers in the RMG sector. In addition to these efforts there is an urgent need to: Specific targeting of female-headed households reliant on remittances should be considered in specific areas such as in Sylhet division.
Strengthen the household-level monitoring by establishing the linkages between the macro and micro-levels and by building on existing systems that monitor remittances, migration flows, low-skilled wage rates, food and livestock prices, nutrition indicators. Agriculture Food and Nutrition Health Disaster type: A service provided by.