Fiscal Sustainability and Competitiveness: Definitions, Issues, and Measures

Abstract

This chapter explores the issue of fiscal sustainability and the nexus between public debt and export competitiveness with applications to selected European and Asian economies. The next section briefly outlines some analytical concepts relating to fiscal sustainability as well as their practical limitations. Section 2.2 directly links the issue of export competitiveness with fiscal sustainability and focuses on empirical estimates of debt thresholds. Section 2.3 uses the estimates derived to ascertain the extent of fiscal space or lack thereof in a set of country case studies in Europe and Asia. Section 2.4 concludes.