Amid low oil prices and rising debts, the Arab region faces a challenging economic outlook. At the same time, development priorities related to decent work, poverty and social justice are more pressing than at any other time in the region’s recent history. Fiscal policy offers many of the tools to resolve these complex challenges. This report proposes several primary considerations.
Fiscal policy reforms are essential and immediate considerations to move forward, including to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Real progress, on the scale that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development demands, depends on economic structural transformation and broader economic governance reforms geared towards financing inclusive and sustainable development.