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We investigate the nexus of public and private investment and assess the impact of both types of investment on growth. Using annual data for 1965-2005, we employ a coherent set of structural VAR outputs to model investment and growth in Benin. We find that in addition to institutional and regulatory developments, public investment and private capital formation facilitated by access to financial services have a significant impact on growth. The analysis supports the crowding-in effect of public investment. It also confirms that the slow pace of improvement in Benin's economic freedom index, whi

The experience of developing countries over 1990-2010 indicates that commodity prices have a significant impact on fiscal outcomes. Both revenue and expenditure rise in response to commodity (import or export) price increases; the response of the fiscal deficit is ambiguous. A floating exchange rate regime only partially offsets the impact; foreign-exchange reserves do not dampen the effects. Hence, there is a strong case for fiscal hedging against commodity price shocks. Hedging instruments based on a limited set of benchmark world prices for a narrow set of commodities may suffice to realize

This paper assesses the macroeconomic implications of scaling up aid for Benin in line with the Gleneagles commitment to double aid to poor countries over the next three years to reach 85 per capita by 2010 and keep it at that level thereafter. The analysis suggests that the additional aid inflows can be accommodated under Fund-supported programs without major disruptions to macroeconomic stability, provided the inflows are highly concessional and used effectively. There are, however, significant risks that the impact on growth and poverty reduction of the additional aid inflows could fall sho