Abstract. The aim of this article is to assess the sustainability of fiscal policy in 18 developing and emerging countries, using the recursive algorithm developed by Croce and Juan-Ramón (2003). In general, the results suggest that most countries were identified as presenting large unsustainable fiscal positions in the period considered, explained basically by primary fiscal deficits. Interestingly, results for Panama suggest no evidence that officially dollarized countries run more prudent fiscal policies than non-officially dollarized countries.

Keywords: debt, deficit, fiscal sustainability.