Elements Of Macroeconomic Policy

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Macroeconomic policy has its most direct influence on agricultural profitability through decisions to collect and spend government budgetary resources. For agricultural systems, the implications of agriculture's share of government spending are clear. The indirect effects on agriculture of central government decisions to finance spending programs are more complicated. But an understanding of the relationships among fiscal policy, inflationary pressure, exchange-rate options, and agricultural profitability is critical. That set of relationships underlies the indirect imposition of a tax on most agricultural producers. Budgetary Policy Budgetary policy deals with the allocation of total revenue, both between recurrent and capital expenditures and among sectors of the economy. The link between budgetary policy and agricultural policy is straightforward; budgetary decisions constrain the levels of government resources available for agricultural programs, such as public investment or recurrent subsidization of agricultural production or marketing. The agricultural sector is only one of many recipients of government funds and, in most developing countries, absorbs only a minor share of such funds. Other categories of expenditure-military and defense, welfare programs for disadvantaged consumers, education and health investments, public sector industries, and public sector employment-account for much larger shares of the budget. Like agriculture, these categories of expenditure are also represented by interest groups with sets of objectives and desires for policies. These objectives often require budgetary support, and budgetary allocations thus serve as indicators of policy-makers' priorities among the competing sectors. But because some objectives can be served by policy instruments that impose little burden on the budget, the expenditure pattern reveals only part of
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