Public debt sustainability in the Caribbean

This paper analyses public debt in the most indebted Caribbean countries – i.e. Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, and St. Kitts and Nevis – from the standpoint of its sustainability. A level of debt is deemed to be sustainable when the debt-to-GDP ratio remains constant or declines. The concept of sustainability is closely linked to that of solvency. A government is solvent if the net present value of its future primary balances (i.e. that excludes interest payments) is equal to or greater than the present value of public debt stock. It can be demonstrated that if the debt-to-GDP ratio is not on an explosive path, that it either stable or decreasing, the solvency condition holds. It is worth noting that the concept of fiscal sustainability addressed in this paper differs from that of optimality of public debt. The analysis that follows is intended to determine whether the service of the current debt levels is consistent with the fiscal stance. Therefore, it does not set out to identify the target debt level based on any optimality criteria. The next section presents the main features of different theoretical approaches to analyse public debt sustainability.1 Section II discusses the situation of public debt in the Caribbean countries showing different indicators; Section III analyses debt sustainability in countries with access to market financing; Section IV does the same in Guyana – a country dependent on concessional financing and, as such, included in the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative – and the countries of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU). Sections V and VI go beyond debt levels as determinants of fiscal sustainability, highlighting the importance of the currency composition of debt and the variability of fiscal revenue. The last section concludes.

Avaliação de Localizção e preço de contrato de geração distribuida em um ambiente competitivo

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Morte e ressurreição da SUDAM: uma análise da decadência e extinção do padrão de planejamento regional na Amazônia

A SUDAM foi extinta em maio de 2001 sob o argumento oficial de que a Instituição estava infiltrada de fraudes e corrupção. Portanto, alegando pressão da opinião pública, o Estado brasileiro extinguiu sumariamente essa Instituição (assim como a SUDENE) e a política de incentivo fiscais que fomentava o desenvolvimento regional no país. Esta tese sustenta a argumentação oposta de que a corrupção não se constituiu em fator determinante para a extinção da SUDAM, mas sim que esse processo decorreu da incapacidade do Estado brasileiro de continuar mantendo o padrão de financeira ocorrente desde os anos oitenta. Inúmeras medidas de política econômica foram tomada pelo Estado que diminuíram os recursos financeiros movimentados pelo Fundo de Investimento da SUDAM, restringindo conseqüentemente a capacidade operacional da Instituição na manutenção dos repasses de recursos para os projetos incentivados e no financiamento de novos projetos na região. Ao se extinguir a SUDAM e a sua política de incentivos fiscais, foi automaticamente extinto o funding sobre o qual se constituiu o padrão de financiamento de desenvolvimento regional concebido desde meados dos anos sessenta e assim sendo, ficou a região sem uma alternativa de financiamento viável e aceitável para o se desenvolvimento. A criação de um novo funding em torno da nova Instituição, a ADA, sem a existência de incentivos fiscais, não se mostrou vantajoso para o capital privado, inviabilizando a demanda por esses recursos. Como alternativa política o governo está se esforçando para criar a SUDAM, mas sem a vinculação dos incentivos fiscais, o que não aconteceu até agora, retardando a ressurreição da Instituição.

Capacity of Active Power Reserve for Frequency Control Enhanced by Distributed Generators

Usually, ancillary services are provided by large conventional generators; however, with the growing interest in distributed generation to satisfy energy and environmental requirements, it seems reasonable to assume that these services could also be provided by distributed generators in an economical and efficient way. In this paper, a proposal for enhancement of the capacity of active power reserve for frequency control using distributed generators is presented. The goal is to minimize the payments done by the transmission system operator to conventional and distributed generators for this ancillary service and for the energy needed to satisfy loads and system losses, subject to a set of constraints. In order to perform analysis, the proposal was implemented using data of the IEEE 30-bus transmission test system. Comparisons were performed considering conventional generators without and with distributed generators installed in the system.

Plano real e a nova realidade brasileira

This paper analyzes the Real Plan and its effects on two administrations of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso (FHC), a period which extends from 1995 to 2002. To this end, the study includes a brief review of the problems faced by previous plans, especially the Cruzado Plan and the reasons for the belief that it has been successfull in relation to inflation control. Additionally, seeking to describe the process of moving to the new currency towards stabilization, the paper describes the theoretical foundations of the Plan. In sequence, it defines the backround of both international and domestic monetary reform which was one important part of the Plan and therefore the reasons for the implementation of the monetary reform. Subsequently the paper deals with the effects of the Plan on the economy as a whole, covering also the way the economic measures were taken concerning the Mexican and Asian crisis, the policies used fot the exchange rate, interest rate, fiscal accounts, balance of payments, among other factors and the relationship between them. Hence, it describes the immediate and the long-term consequences of stabilization program in terms of output, employment, public deficit and debt. Therefore, it is important to note the various junctures to which the economy was exposed, and also to point out the challenges and obstacles arising from these changes for growth, which was sometimes fast, sometimes slowing down - the so-called stop and go. Of course, facts as the moving to floating exchange rate regime, the adoption of inflation targeting regime and the adoption of fiscal responsibility law along with the primary surplus policy were able to create a new economic environment and to contribute to later success of the Cardoso years

Pagamento por serviços ambientais: estudo de caso: simulação da aplicação do programa do “Produtor de Água” na bacia do Rio Pirajibu

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

O FMI e o Sistema Financeiro Internacional: uma análise das mudanças estratégicas nas décadas de 1980 e 1990

The current study has aimed to analyze changes in strategies at the International Monetary Fund that occurred during the 1980s and 1990s. The analysis is done through the the recovery of the 1980s international economic scene, amid the global recession and debt crisis, and shows how the course of the decade and influenced changes under recommendations provided by the IMF to countries with balance of payments crisis. Furthermore, the paper also describes the changes in the international financial system, in some countries which have adopted them and also to the International Monetary Fund itself

Localização e preço de contrato ótimo da geração distribuída em sistemas de distribuição radiais de energia elétrica

Pós-graduação em Engenharia Elétrica - FEIS

Das ideias de Roland Barthes à teoria do enquadramento: análise de uma cobertura política

Pós-graduação em Comunicação - FAAC

Restrição externa e taxa de câmbio no Brasil: 1980-2008

The objective of this study is to examine if economic growth in Brazil was blocking due to external constraints, that is, in consequence of its Balance of Payments. We work with the approach first proposed by Thirlwall (1979) which was later modified by Lima and Carvalho (2009). We can conclude that economic growth was restricted by the external sector, which is consistent with the economic history of Brazil, and verify that the real exchange rate, and to influence the trade balance in the course run, also excerce some influence on this account balance of payments in the long run.

Response to comment on "Using ecological thresholds to evaluate the costs and benefits of set-asides in a biodiversity hotspot"

Finney claims that we did not include transaction costs while assessing the economic costs of a set-aside program in Brazil and that accounting for them could potentially render large payments for environmental services (PES) projects unfeasible. We agree with the need for a better understanding of transaction costs but provide evidence that they do not alter the feasibility of the set-aside scheme we proposed.

Active power reserve for frequency control provided by distributed generators in distribution networks

In a smart grid environment, attention should be paid not only to the power supplied to satisfy loads and system losses but also to the services necessary to provide security and stability to the system: the so-called ancillary services. As they are well known the benefits that distributed generation can bring to electrical systems and to the environment, in this work the possibility that active power reserve for frequency control could be provided by distributed generators (DGs) in an efficient and economical way is explored. The proposed methodology was tested using the IEEE 34-bus distribution test system. The results show improvements in the capacity of the system for this ancillary service and decrease in system losses and payments of the distribution system operator to the DGs.

Pagamento por Serviços Ambientais nas propriedades rurais do alto curso da bacia do Ribeirão Vai e Vem, munícipio de Santo Anastácio (SP)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Contribuições para a proposta de uma política municipal de pagamento por serviços ambientais: o caso de Botucatu/SP

Environmental services are the ones done by the nature, that supports both the life and the environment. Payments for Environmental Services (PES) are financial transfers by beneficiaries of environmental services for the ones who provide such services due to conservation practices. Botucatu is a city in São Paulo State with a great potential for PES. Therefore, this paper develops a comparative study of PES projects in Federal and State ranges, aiming to analyze, select and propose criteria in order to contribute to the creation of a PES policy for the city.

Estudo comparativo dos programas de habitação social nas cidades de Franca/Brasil e Praia/Cabo Verde: convergências e discrepâncias

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)