The Freetown Declaration: Countercyclical Policy for Africa

Main author: Weeks, John
Format: Monographs and Working Papers           
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id eprints-34981
recordtype eprints
institution SOAS, University of London
collection SOAS Research Online
language English
language_search English
description In August 2009 the African finance ministers issued the Freetown Declaration, in which they committed their governments to “implement fiscal stimulus measures” to counter the effects of the international financial crisis on their economies. This paper analyzes the feasibility of realizing this commitment. It considers the availability of policy instruments in the sub-Saharan countries for countercyclical intervention. On the basis of this, the paper proposes a fiscal stimulus tailored to the conditions and constrains of the countries of the region. In a majority of the countries the fiscal expansion could be financed domestically, in other countries governments would require additional external funding, and only for a few countries would a stimulus not be appropriate. >> Watch an interview with John Weeks on the economic basis ofsocial democracy
format Monographs and Working Papers
author Weeks, John
author_facet Weeks, John
authorStr Weeks, John
author_letter Weeks, John
title The Freetown Declaration: Countercyclical Policy for Africa
publisher Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Working Paper no. 237
publishDate 2010
url https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/34981/