IMF Engagement on Health Spending Issues in Surveillance and Program Work

IMF country teams have become increasingly engaged on health spending issues in surveillance and program work, and more so since the COVID-19 pandemic. The primary objectives of health spending are to improve health outcomes and provide protection to households against high financial costs of health care. Health services support inclusive growth and development and protection of the most vulnerable. Health spending is also often one of the largest single public expenditures and is therefore important from both development and fiscal perspectives. The interrelationship between health and economic development has become particularly apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic when health challenges had major macroeconomic effects. The fiscal and macroeconomic importance of health spending will remain high on the policy agenda as a result of global health threats, rising spending pressures in several countries, and deepening interconnections between health spending well-being and economic development.