Financing Pacific Governments for Pacific Development

The small Pacific Island Countries (PICs) face unique constraints which pose public financing challenges beyond those faced by other small island developing states. The PICs also face frequent natural disasters and climate-related impacts which hav...

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Main Author: Edwards, Kim
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/910001512645436638/Financing-Pacific-governments-for-Pacific-development
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29027
id okr-10986-29027
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-290272021-05-25T09:08:36Z Financing Pacific Governments for Pacific Development Edwards, Kim SMALL ISLAND STATES GOVERNMENT FINANCE PUBLIC FINANCE REVENUE PUBLIC SPENDING FOREIGN AID DONORS FISCAL TRENDS AID EFFECTIVENESS ACCESS TO FINANCE The small Pacific Island Countries (PICs) face unique constraints which pose public financing challenges beyond those faced by other small island developing states. The PICs also face frequent natural disasters and climate-related impacts which have destructive effects on livelihoods and the capital stock. Further compounding these challenges, the process of accessing finance from development partners after a disaster can be lengthy, difficult, and uncertain, the resulting allocation of resources across projects and sectors may not be optimal, and the overall envelope of available finance is often insufficient to return the physical capital stock to its pre-disaster level. This paper provides a quantitative assessment of the outlook for government finances in the PICs over the next 25 years. Section one gives introduction. Section two assesses current public expenditure and revenue trends in the PICs and presents a range of scenarios for the evolution of government finances through to 2040. Section three examines longer-term prospects for meeting these financing needs, including via official development assistance, trust fund flows, and debt. Section four considers how the PICs’ capacity to meet their financing needs will be affected by the extent to which they take advantage of the revenue- and growth-enhancing opportunities described in the other Pacific possible background papers. Section five examines whether there is scope to improve the modalities, terms, and timing of aid delivery, including in response to natural disaster. Development assistance currently plays a key role in supporting public service delivery in the Pacific, and this role is likely to remain important over the next 25 years: working together to ensure that aid is provided as efficiently as possible is therefore of paramount importance. Due to the region’s high and increasing exposure to external shocks, the development of more effective financial risk management instruments will also be critical. This paper examines each of these areas of financial collaboration. 2017-12-18T21:27:30Z 2017-12-18T21:27:30Z 2016 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/910001512645436638/Financing-Pacific-governments-for-Pacific-development http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29027 English Pacific Possible Background Paper;No. 7 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Working Paper East Asia and Pacific Oceania
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic SMALL ISLAND STATES
GOVERNMENT FINANCE
PUBLIC FINANCE
REVENUE
PUBLIC SPENDING
FOREIGN AID
DONORS
FISCAL TRENDS
AID EFFECTIVENESS
ACCESS TO FINANCE
spellingShingle SMALL ISLAND STATES
GOVERNMENT FINANCE
PUBLIC FINANCE
REVENUE
PUBLIC SPENDING
FOREIGN AID
DONORS
FISCAL TRENDS
AID EFFECTIVENESS
ACCESS TO FINANCE
Edwards, Kim
Financing Pacific Governments for Pacific Development
geographic_facet East Asia and Pacific
Oceania
relation Pacific Possible Background Paper;No. 7
description The small Pacific Island Countries (PICs) face unique constraints which pose public financing challenges beyond those faced by other small island developing states. The PICs also face frequent natural disasters and climate-related impacts which have destructive effects on livelihoods and the capital stock. Further compounding these challenges, the process of accessing finance from development partners after a disaster can be lengthy, difficult, and uncertain, the resulting allocation of resources across projects and sectors may not be optimal, and the overall envelope of available finance is often insufficient to return the physical capital stock to its pre-disaster level. This paper provides a quantitative assessment of the outlook for government finances in the PICs over the next 25 years. Section one gives introduction. Section two assesses current public expenditure and revenue trends in the PICs and presents a range of scenarios for the evolution of government finances through to 2040. Section three examines longer-term prospects for meeting these financing needs, including via official development assistance, trust fund flows, and debt. Section four considers how the PICs’ capacity to meet their financing needs will be affected by the extent to which they take advantage of the revenue- and growth-enhancing opportunities described in the other Pacific possible background papers. Section five examines whether there is scope to improve the modalities, terms, and timing of aid delivery, including in response to natural disaster. Development assistance currently plays a key role in supporting public service delivery in the Pacific, and this role is likely to remain important over the next 25 years: working together to ensure that aid is provided as efficiently as possible is therefore of paramount importance. Due to the region’s high and increasing exposure to external shocks, the development of more effective financial risk management instruments will also be critical. This paper examines each of these areas of financial collaboration.
format Working Paper
author Edwards, Kim
author_facet Edwards, Kim
author_sort Edwards, Kim
title Financing Pacific Governments for Pacific Development
title_short Financing Pacific Governments for Pacific Development
title_full Financing Pacific Governments for Pacific Development
title_fullStr Financing Pacific Governments for Pacific Development
title_full_unstemmed Financing Pacific Governments for Pacific Development
title_sort financing pacific governments for pacific development
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2017
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/910001512645436638/Financing-Pacific-governments-for-Pacific-development
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29027
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