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Independent fiscal institutions serve to promote sound fiscal policy and sustainable public finances. Today IFIs are considered among the most important innovations in the emerging architecture of public financial management. Within the OECD area, their number has more than tripled and is expected to continue to rise. This publication provides a unique set of in depth case studies of IFIs in 18 OECD member countries in light of many of the good practices for effective IFIs identified in the OECD Recommendation on Principles for Independent Fiscal Institutions.
JEL classification: H11, H50, H83
Keywords: Parliamentary Budget Office(s), financial management, fiscal councils, fiscal policy, independent fiscal institutions, public finances, transparency, legislature
Introduction
This paper provides in depth case studies of independent fiscal institutions (IFIs) in 18 OECD member countries. It is the most comprehensive study of its kind to date and will be updated on a rolling basis to include new institutions. The case studies were developed under the auspices of the OECD Network of Parliamentary Budget Officials and Independent Fiscal Institutions (PBO Network)1 and, in their first iteration,2 served to inform the OECD Council Recommendation on Principles for Independent Fiscal Institutions (2014).3 The paper is stmctured as follows. The introduction presents a brief overview of IFIs today using comparative data drawn from the case studies and discussions with PBO Network members, and in light of the Principles.4 The second section re-introduces the principles. The third section contains case studies for Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States.
The 22 principles in the OECD Council Recommendation on Principles for Independent Fiscal Institutions are geared towards member and non-member countries that have established or are considering establishing an IFI. The principles codify lessons learned and good practices and aim to assist countries to design an enabling environment conducive to the good governance and performance of an IFI and to ensuring its long-term viability. The principles seek to reinforce the core values that IFIs both promote and operate under - independence, non-partisanship, transparency and accountability - while demonstrating technical competence and producing relevant work of the highest quality that stands up to public scrutiny and informs the public debate. They cover: local ownership;...