the Institute of Development Studies and partner organisations
Browse
- No file added yet -

Using Administrative Data to Assess the Impact of the Pandemic in Low-Income Countries: An Application with VAT Data in Rwanda

Download (2.05 MB)
report
posted on 2024-09-05, 21:30 authored by Giulia Mascagni, Adrienne Lees
This paper uses administrative data from Value Added Tax (VAT) returns to provide insights on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Rwanda. We show that the lockdown in Rwanda had a severe impact on the domestic economy, despite relatively low case numbers. However, the economy quickly rebounded after restrictions were lifted, with overall sales losses amounting to 5 per cent of GDP. Although in absolute terms, these losses are concentrated amongst the largest firms, in proportional terms, small firms have been worse affected. We also show that firms providing accommodation, food and transport services, as well as those based in the capital, have been particularly affected by the crisis. Overall, the decline in economic activity translates to a 5.1 per cent loss in VAT revenue for the government. Our results offer policy-makers evidence on the real impact of the crisis, both in aggregate terms and disaggregated by firm size, sector, and location. In a literature that has largely focused on higher-income countries, these results complement projections to inform appropriate policy responses in the specific context of low-income countries.

History

Publisher

Institute of Development Studies

Citation

Mascagni, G. and Lees, A. (2021) Using Administrative Data to Assess the Impact of the Pandemic in Low-Income Countries: An Application with VAT Data in Rwanda, ATAP Working Paper 22, Brighton, Institute of Development Studies, DOI: 10.19088/ICTD.2021.004

Series

ATAP Working Paper 22

Version

  • VoR (Version of Record)

IDS Item Types

Series paper (non-IDS)

Copyright holder

Institute of Development Studies 2021

Country

Rwanda

Language

en

IDS team

Governance

Usage metrics

    International Centre for Tax and Development

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC