Primary Fiscal Expenditure

Primary Fiscal Expenditure refers to total spending by government excluding interest payments on public debt. It includes outlays such as wages, pensions, subsidies, and public investment, reflecting the fiscal policy stance; precise coverage and classification may vary across countries, so country-specific notes should be consulted. Figures are reported across government levels (central government, general government, and the non-financial public sector, where available). This Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) indicator is part of the Latin Macro Watch, the IDB's harmonized fiscal and macroeconomic database for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Coverage

Data are available for 22 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean at annual, monthly, and quarterly frequency, covering 1990–2026. Values can be viewed in millions of domestic currency or USD, as a percentage of GDP, PPP-adjusted, in constant prices (CPI-deflated), seasonally adjusted, year-to-date (YTD), or on a fiscal-year (Q4–Q3) basis, with moving-average (MA3, MA6, MA12) and growth-rate (MoM %, QoQ %, YoY %) transformations.

Sources

Figures are compiled from official national authorities, including Tesouro Nacional do Brasil, Ministerio de Hacienda de Mexico, Ministerio de Economía de Argentina, Ministerio de Hacienda de Costa Rica, and Ministry of Finance and the Public Service of Jamaica, among other finance ministries and statistics agencies in the region.

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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 Primary Fiscal Expenditure measure? It measures total government spending excluding interest payments on public debt, including wages, pensions, subsidies, and public investment. It reflects the fiscal policy stance, though coverage and classification vary by country. Which government levels are reported? Figures are reported across central government, general government, and the non-financial public sector, where available, so users should check the coverage that matches their analysis. How many countries and time periods are covered? The indicator covers 22 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean, with annual, monthly, and quarterly frequencies spanning 1990 to 2026. What units and transformations are available? Values are available in millions of domestic currency or USD, as a percentage of GDP, PPP-adjusted, in constant CPI-deflated prices, seasonally adjusted, year-to-date, or on a fiscal-year basis, with moving averages (MA3, MA6, MA12) and growth rates (MoM %, QoQ %, YoY %). Where does the data come from? Data are compiled from official national authorities such as Tesouro Nacional do Brasil, Ministerio de Hacienda de Mexico, Ministerio de Economía de Argentina, and Ministry of Finance and the Public Service of Jamaica, harmonized by the IDB in the Latin Macro Watch. How is this indicator typically used? Economists and policymakers use it to assess the fiscal policy stance, analyze public spending dynamics, and compare expenditure efforts across Latin America and the Caribbean. How do I cite this indicator? Cite as: Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Latin Macro Watch — "Primary Fiscal Expenditure." data.iadb.org/dataset/latin-macro-watch-dataset.