Report of the activities carried out by the Latin American and Caribbean Institute for Economic and Social Planning (ILPES), 2024-2025

Informe de actividades del Instituto Latinoamericano y del Caribe de Planificación Económica y Social (ILPES), 2024-2025

Drivers of public debt reduction in the Caribbean: a case study of Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Suriname

The Caribbean’s long-running public debt challenge has been worsened by COVID-19. Recent international interest rate increases and the looming threat of climate change impacts place even more burden on Caribbean governments' budgets. While the Caribbean's average debt burden has risen in the past 13 years, some countries have been able to lower their debt ratios. This study closely examines the performance of two Caribbean countries which over the past 13 years, have seen a sustained downward trend in their debt ratios, Jamaica and Saint Kitts and Nevis, and one country that has seen…

CEPAL Review No. 144

Revista CEPAL Nº 144

The weakening of the developmental State in Brazil: an analysis of the political economy of the 1970s and 1980s

This article analyses the weakening of the developmental State and the consolidation of neoliberalism in Brazil that took place through the reconfiguration of interests between social classes and groups, as part of the process of the return to democracy and the struggle waged to install a less exclusionary Constitution. It argues that, unlike in central countries, where the transition to neoliberalism had to do above all with containing the rise of the working class, in Brazil, it took the form of an anti-nationalization vision that gained strength from the late 1970s onward and was driven mai…

Debilitamiento del Estado desarrollista en el Brasil: un análisis de la economía política de las décadas de 1970 y 1980

En el artículo se analiza, a partir de la rearticulación de intereses entre clases y fracciones de clases sociales, la trayectoria de debilitamiento del Estado desarrollista y consolidación del proyecto neoliberal en el Brasil, que tuvo lugar en el marco del proceso de reapertura política y de lucha por una Constitución menos excluyente. Se argumenta que, a diferencia de lo que ocurrió en los países centrales, donde la transición al neoliberalismo estuvo ligada sobre todo a la contención del ascenso de la clase trabajadora, en el Brasil, ese proceso, caracterizado por el fortalecimiento gradua…

Report of the activities carried out by the Latin American and Caribbean Institute for Economic and Social Planning (ILPES), 2023-2024

Informe de actividades del Instituto Latinoamericano y del Caribe de Planificación Económica y Social (ILPES), 2023-2024

Harnessing the potential of artificial intelligence to create public value in the Caribbean. Policy Brief

Caribbean governments need to proactively harness and adopt artificial intelligence technology in public sector organizations to create public value. Despite its numerous benefits, public sector organizations in the Caribbean are lagging in artificial intelligence (AI) adoption. AI is a disruptive technology that has become increasingly ubiquitous and pervasive in modern societies. Extremely transformative, they have advanced rapidly, and affect virtually every aspect of our existence, including the way we interact with and transact within society. AI has provided many benefits, which were pre…

Institutional transformation and strengthening of Latin America’s ministries of finance: From control to the strategic use of public resources for development

The institutional development of ministries of finance determines their capacities to achieve fiscal policy objectives (sustainability) and contribute to economic policy objectives. This study analyses the institutional transformation of ministries of finance in Latin America. Methodologically, it examines the functions assigned by law (legal-regulatory frameworks). Analytically, it proposes two categories of functional models (traditional models focused on spending control and modern ones focused on strategic spending management). Successful institutional strengthening processes have at least…

Revista CEPAL No. 139

CEPAL Review No. 139

El futuro de las reglas fiscales en América Latina y el Caribe: respuestas de los países ante la pandemia de COVID-19 y propuestas para su reformulación

Las medidas fiscales expansivas adoptadas para atenuar los impactos de la pandemia de enfermedad por coronavirus (COVID-19) forzaron a los países que contaban con una regla a revisar sus límites cuantitativos, apelando a la utilización de cláusulas de escape incluidas en las reglas fiscales vigentes, a la suspensión temporal de la aplicación efectiva de las reglas fiscales o bien a la revisión de los objetivos fiscales, manteniendo las reglas y el marco fiscal vigente, entre otras medidas. A partir del estudio de las experiencias recientes, en el presente documento se plantean una serie de rec…

Measurement of tax expenditures in Latin America

The tax system is one of the main instruments used by the State to finance the provision of public goods and services. In the tax system, there are preferential treatments that seek to promote economic activity or support certain sectors. The public revenues forgone by these preferential treatments are known as tax expenditures. The volume of tax expenditures in Latin America is considerable. On average, they were equivalent to 3.8% of GDP and accounted for 20.6% of tax revenues in 2020. Given the need to promote a transformative recovery and finance the implementation of the Sustainable Devel…

Measurement of tax expenditures in Latin America

El sistema tributario es uno de los principales instrumentos del Estado para financiar la provisión de bienes y servicios públicos. En el sistema impositivo existen tratamientos preferenciales que buscan promover la actividad económica o apoyar a determinados sectores. Los ingresos públicos no percibidos por estos tratamientos preferenciales se conocen como renuncias recaudatorias. La magnitud de las renuncias recaudatorias en América Latina es considerable. En promedio, equivalieron al 3,8% del PIB y representaron el 20,6% de la recaudación tributaria en 2020. Ante la necesidad de impulsar un…

Programme of work of the Latin American and Caribbean Institute for Economic and Social Planning (ILPES), 2023. Subprogramme 9: Planning and public management for development

Programa de trabajo del Instituto Latinoamericano y del Caribe de Planificación Económica y Social (ILPES), 2023. Subprograma 9: Planificación y gestión pública para el desarrollo

Digital Public Goods: Driving the Development of Digital Public Infrastructure in the Caribbean

The recovery paradox in Latin America and the Caribbean Growth amid persisting structural problems: inequality, poverty and low investment and productivity

This Special Report examines the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than a year after it first appeared, providing new growth projections for the region’s countries. The document, entitled The recovery paradox in Latin America and the Caribbean. Growth amid persisting structural problems: inequality, poverty and low investment and productivity, analyzes the performance of the region’s main economic and social indicators and presents policy proposals for achieving a transformative recovery based on the forging of a new development pattern.…