Fiscal Balance (% of GDP)
Fiscal balance, sometimes also referred to as government budget balance, is calculated as the difference between a government’s revenues (taxes and proceeds from asset sales) and its expenditures. It is often expressed as a ratio of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). If the balance is positive, the government has a surplus (it spends less than it receives). If the balance is negative, the government has a deficit (it spends more than it receives). Fiscal balance as a percentage of GDP is used as an instrument to measure a government’s ability to meet its financing needs and to ensure good management of public finances.
The table below shows the fiscal balance as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in U.S. dollars (USD) by country for the last five years.
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Fiscal Balance Data
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albania | -4.1 | -1.8 | -2.0 | -1.6 | -1.9 |
| Algeria | -15.3 | -13.1 | -6.6 | -4.5 | -5.1 |
| Angola | -2.9 | -4.5 | -6.3 | 2.2 | - |
| Argentina | -5.1 | -5.8 | -5.9 | -5.0 | -3.8 |
| Armenia | -4.8 | -5.5 | -4.8 | -1.8 | -1.0 |
| Australia | -2.3 | -2.4 | -1.9 | -0.5 | 0.0 |
| Austria | -1.0 | -1.5 | -0.8 | 0.2 | 0.7 |
| Azerbaijan | -1.2 | -0.4 | -1.6 | -0.4 | -0.3 |
| Bahrain | -13.0 | -13.6 | -10.0 | -6.3 | -4.7 |
| Bangladesh | -4.0 | -3.4 | -3.3 | -4.6 | -5.2 |
| Belarus | 1.4 | 1.5 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 2.6 |
| Belgium | -2.4 | -2.4 | -0.7 | -0.8 | -1.9 |
| Belize | -8.0 | -3.4 | -2.8 | -0.7 | -1.8 |
| Bolivia | -6.9 | -6.7 | -7.8 | -8.1 | -7.2 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0.7 | 1.2 | 2.6 | 2.3 | - |
| Botswana | -4.6 | 0.7 | -1.1 | -4.6 | -6.2 |
| Brazil | -10.2 | -9.0 | -7.8 | -7.1 | -5.9 |
| Brunei | -14.5 | -21.7 | -10.6 | -3.6 | -10.5 |
| Bulgaria | -1.7 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 2.1 |
| Cambodia | -0.6 | -0.3 | -0.8 | 0.7 | - |
| Canada | -0.1 | -0.5 | -0.1 | -0.4 | -0.4 |
| Chile | -2.1 | -2.7 | -2.8 | -1.7 | -2.8 |
| China | -3.4 | -3.8 | -3.7 | -4.1 | -4.9 |
| Colombia | -3.0 | -4.0 | -3.6 | -3.1 | -2.5 |
| Costa Rica | -5.7 | -5.2 | -6.1 | -5.8 | -7.0 |
| Croatia | -3.3 | -1.0 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Cyprus | -1.0 | 0.3 | 2.0 | -3.7 | 1.7 |
| Czech Republic | -0.6 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 0.3 |
| DR Congo | - | - | - | - | - |
| Denmark | -1.2 | 0.1 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 3.7 |
| Dominican Republic | -0.4 | -2.8 | -2.9 | -2.4 | -2.3 |
| Ecuador | -6.1 | -8.2 | -4.5 | -3.1 | -2.8 |
| Egypt | -11.0 | -12.0 | -10.7 | -9.5 | -8.0 |
| El Salvador | -3.3 | -3.0 | -2.3 | -2.5 | -2.9 |
| Estonia | 0.1 | -0.5 | -0.8 | -0.6 | -0.3 |
| Ethiopia | -2.3 | -3.2 | -3.0 | -2.5 | - |
| Eurozone | -2.0 | -1.5 | -1.0 | -0.5 | -0.6 |
| Finland | -2.4 | -1.7 | -0.7 | -0.9 | -1.1 |
| France | -3.6 | -3.6 | -2.9 | -2.3 | -3.0 |
| Georgia | -1.2 | -1.5 | -0.5 | -0.8 | -1.8 |
| Germany | 0.9 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.9 | 1.4 |
| Ghana | -5.3 | -6.9 | -5.0 | -3.8 | -4.5 |
| Greece | -5.6 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 1.5 |
| Guatemala | -1.5 | -1.1 | -1.4 | -1.9 | -2.3 |
| Haiti | -1.7 | -3.0 | -1.7 | -4.6 | - |
| Honduras | -3.0 | -2.7 | -2.7 | -2.1 | -2.5 |
| Hong Kong | 0.6 | 4.5 | 5.6 | 2.4 | - |
| Hungary | -2.0 | -1.8 | -2.5 | -2.1 | -2.0 |
| Iceland | -0.8 | 12.4 | 0.6 | 0.8 | -1.0 |
| Indonesia | -2.6 | -2.5 | -2.6 | -1.7 | -2.2 |
| Iran | -1.6 | -1.9 | -1.8 | - | - |
| Iraq | -12.8 | -13.9 | -1.6 | 7.9 | - |
| Ireland | -2.0 | -0.7 | -0.3 | 0.1 | 0.4 |
| Israel | -2.1 | -2.1 | -2.0 | -2.9 | -3.7 |
| Italy | -2.6 | -2.4 | -2.4 | -2.2 | -1.6 |
| Jamaica | -0.3 | -0.2 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 0.2 |
| Japan | -3.8 | -3.7 | -3.1 | -2.4 | -2.8 |
| Jordan | -3.4 | -3.2 | -2.6 | -2.4 | -3.4 |
| Kazakhstan | -2.2 | -1.6 | -2.7 | -1.3 | -1.9 |
| Kenya | -8.1 | -7.7 | -9.0 | -7.0 | -7.6 |
| Korea | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 1.6 | -0.6 |
| Kosovo | -1.6 | -1.1 | -1.1 | -2.6 | -2.6 |
| Kuwait | -13.4 | -13.9 | -8.9 | -3.0 | - |
| Kyrgyzstan | -2.5 | -5.8 | -3.7 | -0.6 | -0.1 |
| Laos | -5.6 | -5.1 | -5.5 | -4.7 | -5.2 |
| Latvia | -1.4 | 0.2 | -0.8 | -0.8 | -0.2 |
| Lebanon | -7.9 | -9.6 | -7.0 | -11.0 | -10.9 |
| Lithuania | -0.3 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.3 |
| Luxembourg | 1.3 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 3.1 | 2.2 |
| Malaysia | -3.2 | -3.1 | -2.9 | -3.7 | -3.4 |
| Malta | -1.0 | 1.0 | 3.3 | 1.9 | 0.5 |
| Mexico | -3.4 | -2.5 | -1.1 | -2.1 | -1.6 |
| Moldova | -2.2 | -1.9 | -0.8 | -0.9 | -1.4 |
| Mongolia | -5.0 | -15.3 | -6.3 | 0.0 | -1.7 |
| Montenegro | -8.0 | -3.4 | -5.5 | -3.6 | -2.9 |
| Morocco | -4.2 | -4.3 | -3.6 | -3.7 | -3.7 |
| Mozambique | -6.7 | -5.5 | -3.2 | -7.1 | -0.2 |
| Myanmar | -2.8 | -3.9 | -2.7 | -3.0 | -3.5 |
| Netherlands | -2.0 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.7 |
| New Zealand | 0.2 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 2.5 |
| Nicaragua | -1.6 | -2.0 | -2.0 | -4.0 | - |
| Nigeria | -3.2 | -4.0 | -5.4 | -4.3 | - |
| North Macedonia | -3.5 | -2.7 | -2.7 | -1.8 | -2.0 |
| Norway | 6.0 | 4.1 | 5.0 | 7.8 | 6.4 |
| Oman | -17.6 | -21.1 | -13.9 | -8.7 | -9.1 |
| Pakistan | -5.3 | -4.6 | -5.8 | -6.6 | -8.9 |
| Panama | -2.3 | -1.9 | -1.9 | -2.9 | -3.1 |
| Paraguay | -1.3 | -1.1 | -1.1 | -1.3 | -2.8 |
| Peru | -1.9 | -2.3 | -3.0 | -2.3 | -1.6 |
| Philippines | -0.9 | -2.3 | -2.1 | -3.1 | -3.4 |
| Poland | -2.6 | -2.4 | -1.5 | -0.2 | -0.7 |
| Portugal | -4.4 | -1.9 | -3.0 | -0.4 | 0.2 |
| Puerto Rico | - | - | - | - | - |
| Qatar | -0.7 | -9.2 | -6.6 | 2.2 | 0.9 |
| Romania | -0.6 | -2.6 | -2.6 | -2.9 | -4.3 |
| Russia | -2.4 | -3.5 | -1.4 | 2.6 | 1.8 |
| Saudi Arabia | -15.8 | -12.9 | -9.2 | -5.9 | -4.5 |
| Serbia | -3.5 | -1.2 | 1.1 | 0.6 | -0.2 |
| Singapore | -1.0 | 1.4 | 2.3 | 0.7 | -0.3 |
| Slovakia | -2.7 | -2.5 | -1.0 | -1.0 | -1.3 |
| Slovenia | -2.8 | -1.9 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.5 |
| South Africa | -3.7 | -3.6 | -4.1 | -4.0 | -6.3 |
| Spain | -5.2 | -4.3 | -3.0 | -2.5 | -2.8 |
| Sri Lanka | -7.6 | -5.3 | -5.5 | -5.3 | -6.8 |
| Sweden | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 0.5 |
| Switzerland | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.2 | - | - |
| Taiwan | 0.1 | -0.3 | -0.1 | 0.0 | - |
| Tajikistan | -2.0 | -9.0 | -6.0 | -2.8 | -2.1 |
| Tanzania | -3.2 | -2.1 | -1.2 | -1.9 | - |
| Thailand | -2.3 | -2.6 | -3.0 | -2.4 | -1.8 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | -1.7 | -5.3 | -8.9 | -3.6 | -2.4 |
| Tunisia | -4.8 | -6.1 | -6.1 | -4.8 | -3.5 |
| Turkey | -1.0 | -1.1 | -1.5 | -2.0 | -2.9 |
| Turkmenistan | -0.7 | -2.4 | -2.8 | -0.2 | - |
| USA | -2.4 | -3.1 | -3.4 | -3.8 | -4.6 |
| Uganda | -3.9 | -4.1 | -3.2 | -3.8 | -6.7 |
| Ukraine | -1.6 | -2.3 | -1.4 | -2.1 | -2.2 |
| United Arab Emirates | -3.4 | -2.8 | -2.0 | 2.0 | - |
| United Kingdom | -4.6 | -3.3 | -2.5 | -2.2 | -2.1 |
| Uruguay | -3.4 | -3.7 | -3.5 | -2.9 | -3.4 |
| Uzbekistan | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | -0.2 | -1.1 |
| Venezuela | -15.6 | -16.8 | -18.2 | - | - |
| Vietnam | -6.1 | -3.7 | -1.2 | -3.5 | - |
| Yemen | -10.0 | -9.2 | -5.3 | -6.3 | - |
| Zambia | -9.5 | -6.1 | -7.7 | -8.3 | - |
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Fiscal Balance Economic News
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Korea: Government announces second supplementary budget to fuel recovery
July 15, 2021
On 1 July, the government announced a supplementary budget proposal—the sixth since the pandemic started and the second this year—aimed at supporting the recovery and mitigating the adverse impact of the pandemic, largely financed by spare revenues.
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Kenya: Government unveils record FY 2021–2022 budget, but still aims for fiscal consolidation
June 10, 2021
On 10 June, the government presented a record KES 3.7 trillion (around USD 34 billion) budget for the fiscal year 2021–2022—which starts on 1 July and runs through 30 June 2022—representing a 9.0% increase over the prior year’s KES 3.4 trillion (around USD 33 billion) budget.
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Australia: Government delivers stimulatory budget to boost recovery
May 20, 2021
On 11 May, the government unveiled its 2021–2022 budget, amid an ongoing and stronger-than-expected economic recovery from the downturn caused by the pandemic.
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