拉丁美洲经济委员会-2023年拉丁美洲和加勒比财政全景：促进增长、再分配和生产转型的财政政策（英）-2023.5-146页_2mb

Summary of Fiscal Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean 2023

Introduction: Fiscal Trends in 2022

• Revenue Growth: Tax revenues increased due to higher international commodity prices and income tax collections, supported by economic recovery post-pandemic. Non-tax revenues remained stable.
• Spending Cuts: Public spending declined due to withdrawal of pandemic-related subsidies and anti-inflation measures, exacerbated by high interest payments.
• Debt Reduction: Public debt fell to 51.5% of GDP in Latin America, but remained high (77.3% in the Caribbean). Interest payments surged, posing risks to fiscal sustainability.
• Subnational Balances: Subnational governments saw surpluses post-pandemic, easing fiscal consolidation pressures.

Personal Income Tax

• Progressivity and Challenges: Personal income tax is less developed than OECD countries, with low collection (2.1% of GDP). Top rates averaged 31.9% (Latin America), but exemptions, deductions, and tax evasion limit revenue.
• Exemptions and Evasion: High levels of exemptions (e.g., deductions for dependents) reduce effective progressivity. Evasion remains a major issue, with significant revenue losses across countries.
• Reform Trends: Countries increasingly adopt dual taxation systems to broaden the tax base and target high-income earners, reversing earlier trends of decreasing top rates.

Public Expenditure Targeting Vulnerable Groups

• Methodology: A new framework classifies expenditure by functional areas (health, education, social protection) and categories (physical autonomy, economic autonomy, etc.) to measure impact on gender equality, Indigenous Peoples, Afrodescendants, and persons with disabilities.
• Key Findings:
  • Gender Equality: Spending (0.51%–3.29% of GDP) is dominated by social protection (Argentina and Uruguay).
  • Persons with Disabilities: Focus is on health, education, and income support, with social protection being the largest component.
  • Indigenous/Afrodescendants: Education and economic policies target cultural preservation and land rights, but data fragmentation limits complete analysis.

Challenges and Recommendations

• Strengthening Tax Systems: Address evasion, simplify compliance, and harmonize methodologies for cross-cutting expenditure analysis.
• Transparency and Data: Improve open data portals to enhance accountability and cross-country comparisons.
• Policy Alignment: Integrate cross-cutting analyses into budget cycles to better target resources to vulnerable groups, supporting Sustainable Development Goals.

This report advocates for strategic fiscal policies to balance growth, redistribution, and sustainable development priorities.