Fiscal deficit narrows by 53 percent in first semester. IIF expects debt-to-GDP to drop in 2017 and 2018

The fiscal deficit narrowed by 53 percent to LL1,368 billion ($908 million) in the first half of 2017 compared with the same period last year.

The improvement in the fiscal deficit was mainly driven by a one-off factor consisting of taxes on the profits realized by banks on the 'unconventional' financial operations that were carried out by the Central Bank (BDL) in 2016, said Garbis Iradian, Chief Economist at the Institute of International Finance (IIF). A rise in value added tax (VAT) ...

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