Gérard Chambas

Exchange rate regimes and revenue performance in Sub-Saharan Africa

It has been argued that the institutions of the CFA Franc zone may have reduced inflation but that they also induced misalignment of the real exchange rate and that this is the explanation for their dismal revenue performance. This paper uses a panel of 22 countries in sub-Saharan Africa to estimate revenue performance over the period from 1980 to 1996. It finds that the poor cumulative relative revenue performance of the franc zone countries is mainly attributable to differences in environmental and structural factors, and that different responses to changes in the equilibrium real exchange rate, but that the misalignment of the real exchange rate also played a part.

Taxing the Urban Unrecorded Economy in Sub-Saharan Africa

The global public revenue level of numerous African countries is low and the tax burden is highly concentrated on modern sector firms. One of the most current explanations for the low level of public revenue is the under-taxation of the urban unrecorded activities. The aim of this paper is to define an appropriate strategy in order to collect additional public resources from unrecorded activities in Sub-Saharan African Countries. In order to define an adapted taxation strategy for the unrecorded sector, informal micro-activities are distinguished from tax evasion activities (TEA). In Africa, the expansion of informal micro-activities is not fundamentally determined by their ability to evade taxes. On the contrary, the expansion of TEA, which are composed of large and small scale firms, is strongly linked to tax fraud (internal taxes, customs duties, etc.). The fundamental justifications of taxing the unrecorded activities differ according to the components of the unrecorded sector. Tax enforcement for TEA should produce substantial additional tax revenues and safeguards the durability of the tax collection system. With regard to informal micro-activities, taxation could be a significant tax revenue objective for local governments only and not for the central government. We examine the results of the measures aimed at taxing the unrecorded sector in some sub-Saharan African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso). Then, specific strategies are proposed in order to tax the informal micro-activities and TEA respectively. These strategies imply some specific tax measures widely implemented in Sub-Saharan African countries, such as a withholding tax profit. Some new measures, in particular a drastically simplified business tax for informal micro-activities, could be useful. With respect to tax collection, some innovative choices are suggested.

Déficit public et épargne privée dans les pays africains de la zone franc

Franc area African countries are going through a serious public finance crisis with the tax income collapse. This paper deals with the budget deficit impact on private saving. A consumption function is estimated with econometric methods. The Ricardian equivalence hypothesis is rejected. States cannot meet their own foreign financial commitments, so rhe cut in public saving is nor offset by an equivalenr rise in private saving.

Économie politique de la réforme de transition fiscale : le cas du Maroc

Le cas du Maroc met en evidence le role crucial des facteurs d’economie politique pour mettre en œuvre des reformes fiscales, tout particulierement la reforme de la TVA, qui constitue un corollaire de la politique de liberalisation tarifaire. Or, ces facteurs ont ete jusqu’ici largement negliges.La necessite d’un appui a la reforme sous une forme renouvelee des partenaires exterieurs est mise en lumiere. A partir d’un accord sur un programme pluriannuel de reforme prenant en compte les facteurs d’economie politique, les partenaires exterieurs peuvent soutenir et stimuler l’effort de reforme des pays. Ces derniers doivent accorder une grande attention aux facteurs institutionnels.L’experience du Maroc est riche d’enseignements pour promouvoir des reformes fiscales dans les pays d’Afrique sub-saharienne egalement confrontes aux defis de la transition fiscale. Elle permet de degager les conditions a satisfaire et les lacunes a pallier pour atteindre une meilleure efficacite dans la mise en œuvre des reformes.