The Impact of the Economic Crisis on the Fiscal Stance of Low Income Countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States

Abstract

The paper analyses how the global economic crisis affected the economies and public finances of three low income, non fuel exporting, members of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The paper discusses the main channels of transmission of the economic crisis. It examines the impact of the crisis on government budgets, the discretionary fiscal policies implemented to help mitigate the adverse impact of the crisis and how these policies were financed. The paper makes estimates of the fiscal impulse in each country in 2009. Finally it assesses the impact of the economic crisis on public debt indicators.