Growth in public expenditure will slow in 2011 as the economic stimulus measures that were introduced in 2009 are gradually withdrawn. As the fiscal deficit is set to narrow from 1.5% of GDP in 2011 to 0.5% of GDP in 2015, the government will come under little pressure to cut spending. Such reductions would in any case prove difficult to implement: the scope for additional savings is narrow, given the rising demand for social welfare payments that will result from the ageing of the population and the need to upgrade infrastructure on an ongoing basis. Instead, it is revenue trends that will be the primary determinant of future changes in Taiwan's fiscal balance. Revenue growth will be supported by a healthy rate of expansion in nominal GDP in 2011-15.