01769cas a2200253 a 4500 AALejournalIMF005116 230101c9999 xx r poo 0 0eng d 5.00 USD 9781451869965 1018-5941 BD-DhAAL BD-DhAAL Zettelmeyer, Jeromin. Fiscal Positions in Latin America : Have They Really Improved? / Jeromin Zettelmeyer, Ivanna Hollar. Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, 2008. 1 online resource (30 pages) IMF Working Papers <strong>Off-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required <strong>On-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required Electronic access restricted to authorized BRAC University faculty, staff and students Fiscal performance in Latin America looks much improved this decade compared to the 1980s or 1990s. Is this a "structural" improvement or likely to be transitory? This paper answers this question by estimating the relationship between non-commodity revenue and the economic cycle, and evaluating commodity revenues using alternative medium term commodity price projections. The main result is that structural revenues have indeed improved as a share of GDP, and structural primary balances are currently in surplus in many Latin American countries. However, the magnitude of these improvements is uncertain, in part due to uncertainty about the commodity price outlook. Mode of access: Internet Hollar, Ivanna. IMF Working Papers; Working Paper ; No. 2008/137 Full text available on IMF http://elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/001/2008/137/001.2008.issue-137-en.xml IMF e-Library