Africa has been by way of painful bouts of austerity earlier than, with damaging results on well being and schooling. The IMF examined 82 cases of African governments decreasing deficits between 1980 and 2021. A few quarter of the changes got here from tax rises, and three-quarters from spending cuts. However this time governments plan to have a fair cut up. A higher emphasis on tax rises comes partly on the urging of the IMF, which reckons that in Africa they’re much less dangerous to development (in wealthy international locations, it thinks the other). There are many issues that could possibly be taxed extra: property in booming cities; oil, gasoline and mining, that are fairly flippantly burdened; and the wealthy, who usually pay little. However politicians usually discover it easier, and simpler on their very own pockets, to boost oblique taxes on items, corresponding to value-added tax (VAT).
THE ECONOMIST
