Financing for social protection often comes from government funds. Any way of expanding fiscal space could therefore be useful with the political will for prioritisation. Egypt created an Economic Justice Unit in the Ministry of Finance to review expenditure priorities, and Costa Rica and Thailand shifted military spending to finance universal health services.
Ortiz et al. (2015) offer options for government to increase social investment: reallocating public expenditures, increasing tax revenues, expanding social security coverage and contributory revenues, lobbying for aid and transfers, eliminating illicit financial flows, using fiscal and foreign exchange reserves, borrowing or restructuring existing debt and, adopting a more accommodative macroeconomic framework.
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