Total Fiscal Expenditure

Total Fiscal Expenditure measures the sum of all spending by the general government, including both primary expenditures (such as wages, subsidies and investment) and interest payments on public debt, reflecting the full scope of government outlays. Where available it is reported across government levels — central government, general government and the non-financial public sector — and the precise coverage and classification may vary across countries, so country-specific notes should be consulted. Published in the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Latin Macro Watch (LMW), it supports researchers, policymakers and analysts studying public finances across Latin America and the Caribbean.

Coverage

Total Fiscal Expenditure is available for 15 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean at annual, monthly and quarterly frequency, spanning 1990 to 2026. Values can be expressed as a share of GDP, PPP-adjusted, year-to-date (YTD), at constant CPI-deflated prices, on a fiscal-year (Q4–Q3 aggregation) basis, in millions of USD or domestic currency, and seasonally adjusted. Transformations include MA3, MA6 and MA12 moving averages and MoM %, QoQ % and YoY % growth rates.

Sources

The series is compiled from national finance ministries, central banks and statistical agencies, including Tesouro Nacional do Brasil, Ministerio de Hacienda de Mexico, Ministerio de Economía de Argentina, Ministerio de Hacienda y Crédito Público de Colombia and the Consejo Monetario Centroamericano.

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Format	CSV
Language	en
Country	Argentina Bahamas Trinidad & Tobago Belize Costa Rica Dominican Republic Ecuador Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia El Salvador Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Panama Uruguay Venezuela Barbados Paraguay Peru Suriname
Data notes	What does Total Fiscal Expenditure measure? It measures the sum of all spending by the general government, including both primary expenditures (such as wages, subsidies and investment) and interest payments on public debt. Which government levels are reported? Where available, the indicator is reported across central government, general government and the non-financial public sector; coverage and classification may vary by country. How many countries and which time period are covered? The indicator covers 15 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean from 1990 to 2026, at annual, monthly and quarterly frequency. What units and transformations are available? Values are available as a share of GDP, PPP-adjusted, YTD, at constant CPI-deflated prices, on a fiscal-year basis, in millions of USD or domestic currency and seasonally adjusted, with MA3/MA6/MA12 moving averages and MoM %, QoQ % and YoY % growth rates. Where does the data come from? The data is compiled from national finance ministries, central banks and statistical agencies, including Tesouro Nacional do Brasil, Ministerio de Hacienda de Mexico and Ministerio de Economía de Argentina. How do I cite this indicator? Cite it as: Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Latin Macro Watch — "Total Fiscal Expenditure". data.iadb.org/dataset/latin-macro-watch-dataset.