Financing Social Spending in Times of COVID-19 Briefing

The Coronavirus pandemic has already triggered an unprecedented social and economic crisis, threatening decades of progress in child survival, education and child protection. To address these impacts of COVID-19, governments around the world are attempting to implement countercyclical fiscal policy measures and target expenditure to areas that can support people and the economy during the crisis. However, given the protracted nature of the crisis, the ability of governments to sustain levels of spending in the context of a deteriorating economic outlook will be challenging.

This briefing has three specific aims:

1. To assess the latest developments in government expenditure and revenue trends in low and lower-middle income countries, to understand how the protracted crisis is impacting fiscal space this year and prospects for 2021 and beyond.
2. To review latest available information about government budgetary allocations to education, health and social protection compared to the pre-COVID period, to ascertain commitment to supporting these.
3. To provide recommendations for governments, international agencies and the private sector to prevent the 2020s being a lost decade for children and to advance progress towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).