The Effects of Fiscal Policy on Inequality and Poverty in The Gambia
The overall objective of this study is to assess the impact of the fiscal system on poverty and inequality in The Gambia as of 2015. The study presents the first empirical evidence on the distributional impacts of taxes and social spending on house...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2022
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099605003102232996/P16447401a6bc80b0afaa0a627a3b0fa38 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37187 |
| id |
okr-10986-37187 |
|---|---|
| recordtype |
oai_dc |
| spelling |
okr-10986-371872022-03-23T05:10:38Z The Effects of Fiscal Policy on Inequality and Poverty in The Gambia Carrasco Nunez, Haydeeliz Jawara, Hamidou Meyer, Moritz FISCAL POLICY SOCIAL SPENDING TAXES FISCAL INCIDENCE INEQUALITY COMMITTMENT TO EQUITY POVERTY The overall objective of this study is to assess the impact of the fiscal system on poverty and inequality in The Gambia as of 2015. The study presents the first empirical evidence on the distributional impacts of taxes and social spending on households in The Gambia. Furthermore, it also evaluated the distributional effects of recent fiscal policy reforms in The Gambia. The assessment was based on the Commitment to Equity (CEQ) Methodology with data from the Integrated Household Survey of 2015 and fiscal administrative data from various government ministries, departments, and agencies. The analyses show that while the fiscal system in The Gambia reduces inequality by 1.2 Gini points, it increases the national poverty headcount by 5.3 percentage points as all households (including the poor) are net payers into the fiscal system. Most of the inequality reduction is due to primary education benefits, with a marginal contribution of 0.44 Gini points, and most of the poverty increase is due to custom duties and VAT with marginal contributions of -2.63 percentage points and -2.07 percentage points, respectively. Simulating the effect of changes in the structure of personal income tax (PIT) and the government’s ongoing absorption of the School Feeding Program indicate that these changes reduce inequality but do not offset the impoverishing effect of the fiscal system. Hence, more cashable transfer programs targeted to the poor are needed to offset the impoverishing effect of indirect taxes and make the fiscal system more pro-poor. 2022-03-22T18:21:45Z 2022-03-22T18:21:45Z 2022-01 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099605003102232996/P16447401a6bc80b0afaa0a627a3b0fa38 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37187 English CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Report Publications & Research Africa Western and Central (AFW) Africa West Africa Gambia, The |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English |
| topic |
FISCAL POLICY SOCIAL SPENDING TAXES FISCAL INCIDENCE INEQUALITY COMMITTMENT TO EQUITY POVERTY |
| spellingShingle |
FISCAL POLICY SOCIAL SPENDING TAXES FISCAL INCIDENCE INEQUALITY COMMITTMENT TO EQUITY POVERTY Carrasco Nunez, Haydeeliz Jawara, Hamidou Meyer, Moritz The Effects of Fiscal Policy on Inequality and Poverty in The Gambia |
| geographic_facet |
Africa Western and Central (AFW) Africa West Africa Gambia, The |
| description |
The overall objective of this study
is to assess the impact of the fiscal system on poverty and
inequality in The Gambia as of 2015. The study presents the
first empirical evidence on the distributional impacts of
taxes and social spending on households in The Gambia.
Furthermore, it also evaluated the distributional effects of
recent fiscal policy reforms in The Gambia. The assessment
was based on the Commitment to Equity (CEQ) Methodology with
data from the Integrated Household Survey of 2015 and fiscal
administrative data from various government ministries,
departments, and agencies. The analyses show that while the
fiscal system in The Gambia reduces inequality by 1.2 Gini
points, it increases the national poverty headcount by 5.3
percentage points as all households (including the poor) are
net payers into the fiscal system. Most of the inequality
reduction is due to primary education benefits, with a
marginal contribution of 0.44 Gini points, and most of the
poverty increase is due to custom duties and VAT with
marginal contributions of -2.63 percentage points and -2.07
percentage points, respectively. Simulating the effect of
changes in the structure of personal income tax (PIT) and
the government’s ongoing absorption of the School Feeding
Program indicate that these changes reduce inequality but do
not offset the impoverishing effect of the fiscal system.
Hence, more cashable transfer programs targeted to the poor
are needed to offset the impoverishing effect of indirect
taxes and make the fiscal system more pro-poor. |
| format |
Working Paper |
| author |
Carrasco Nunez, Haydeeliz Jawara, Hamidou Meyer, Moritz |
| author_facet |
Carrasco Nunez, Haydeeliz Jawara, Hamidou Meyer, Moritz |
| author_sort |
Carrasco Nunez, Haydeeliz |
| title |
The Effects of Fiscal Policy on Inequality and Poverty in The Gambia |
| title_short |
The Effects of Fiscal Policy on Inequality and Poverty in The Gambia |
| title_full |
The Effects of Fiscal Policy on Inequality and Poverty in The Gambia |
| title_fullStr |
The Effects of Fiscal Policy on Inequality and Poverty in The Gambia |
| title_full_unstemmed |
The Effects of Fiscal Policy on Inequality and Poverty in The Gambia |
| title_sort |
effects of fiscal policy on inequality and poverty in the gambia |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2022 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099605003102232996/P16447401a6bc80b0afaa0a627a3b0fa38 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37187 |
| _version_ |
1764486686963662848 |