Trade Liberalization and Tax Reform in the Southern Mediterranean Region

George Abed

No 1998/049, IMF Working Papers from International Monetary Fund

Abstract: The European Union’s Association Agreements with several countries in the Southern Mediterranean Region (SMR) aim to promote deeper economic integration between the SMR and the EU by establishing a free trade area in twelve years. Because a large share of the SMR countries’ total imports comes from the EU, the removal of import tariffs could reduce budgetary revenue by the equivalent of 1 percent to 4 percent of individual countries’ GDP. This paper proposes tax and tariff reforms that would help generate the needed compensatory revenue and, more important in the long run, reduce the distortionary effects of the tax and tariff systems and underpin higher rates of sustainable growth.

Keywords: WP; tax; country; tariff; SMR; SMR country; Trade Liberalization; Tariff Reform; Tax Reform; tax receipt; trade tax; personal income; EU imports; import duty; tariff liberalization; reforming country; tariff revenue; SMR revenue structure; tariff system; Tariffs; Imports; Taxes on trade; Consumption taxes; Middle East; Western Hemisphere; Global (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 33
Date: 1998-04-01
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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