Impact of Fiscal Policy on Inequality and Poverty in the Arab Republic of Egypt
This study assesses the redistributive impact of fiscal policy –– including expenditures and taxation –– in the Arab Republic of Egypt. Using a broadly applied methodology, a fiscal incidence analysis is conducted using survey and government data f...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2019
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/617221555617293604/Impact-of-Fiscal-Policy-on-Inequality-and-Poverty-in-the-Arab-Republic-of-Egypt http://hdl.handle.net/10986/31579 |
| Summary: | This study assesses the redistributive
impact of fiscal policy –– including expenditures and
taxation –– in the Arab Republic of Egypt. Using a broadly
applied methodology, a fiscal incidence analysis is
conducted using survey and government data for fiscal year
2015. Evidence shows that Egyptian fiscal policy reduces
income inequality, and that among individual fiscal
programs, the largest reduction is due to public
expenditures on the primary education system. Compared with
similar countries, Egypt's overall fiscal policy placed
it in the median of the distribution of inequality
reduction. Fiscal policies in Egypt also led to a decrease
in poverty, mostly from the flagship Tamween program.
Poverty and inequality could be reduced more effectively if
the country would shift away from spending on untargeted
energy subsidies to more targeted transfers. The large gap
between the government's expenditures and revenues
helps explain the positive outcomes on poverty and
inequality but poses challenges in the long term. |
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