Theo Thomas


Theo Thomas is currently an Economist in the Asia and Pacific Department of the International Monetary Fund. He spent the previous three years in the Fiscal Affairs Department working on a variety of low- and middle-income countries. He has also worked for the UK Debt Management Office (DMO) and the UK Department for International Development.




Papers Published in World Economics:


Making Fiscal Space Happen!

Debt relief and the scaling up of aid to low-income countries should allow for increased fiscal space for expenditure programs to spur long-term growth and reduce poverty. But as discussed in Peter Heller’s article “Pity the Finance Minister” (World Economics, Vol. 6, No. 4), designing a suitable medium-term fiscal framework that fosters a sustainable delivery of better public services and infrastructure while maintaining a credible commitment to fiscal prudence raises many challenges. This article first discusses what low-income countries can do to formulate fiscal policy frameworks that are ambitious in their goals for absorbing additional aid while maintaining longer-term sustainability of the expenditure programs and government finances. It then suggests the approaches required to manage the heightened fiscal policy risks associated with a scaled-up aid environment, including issues of coordination with monetary policy. And finally, the article discusses what institutional changes are needed if donors and countries are to facilitate the implementation of a higher level of aid-financed spending programs.

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