The introduction of the fiscal regime coincided with a global copper boom, which led to steadily increasing fiscal surpluses, peaking at 7.4 percent of GDP on the eve of the global crisis (Figure B3.3.1). By the end of 2007, the government debt-to-council of technical experts stood firm againts political pressuses to assume that copper prices would remain permanently hight and to maintain higher spending levils. Copper price fell sharply during the Great Recession. The significant fiscal space built up over the preceding year allowed Chile to implement a stimulus package amounting to 2.9 percent of GDP. It included increases in public invertment; temporary reductions in a range of tex; and subsidies for housing, transportation , and low-income households (IMF,2009). In part beceause of this fiscal stimulas, growth resumed the following year.While the recovery of the global economy was also accompanied by a rebound in copper price, they did not return to per-crisis levels.