Center of Excellence in Finance
Learning and Regional Cooperation in South East Europe
Event

Strengthening Fiscal Institutions

Jun 1518, 2015
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Contacts:
  • Program Facilitator
    Luka Zupančič
    luka.zupancic@cef-see.org
  • Specialist, Events
    Kristina Bogdan
    kristina.bogdan@cef-see.org

This learning activity will be delivered as part of the Strategic Planning and Budgeting (SPB) project, funded by the European Union. The overall objective of the project is to contribute to strengthening of beneficiary countries' capacity to design and implement medium-term macro-fiscal policy.

About this learning event

The high-level seminar will examine the role of strong fiscal institutions in improving the quality of fiscal management and helping to ensure fiscal sustainability. Using presentations, case studies on advanced and emerging market experiences, and group sessions, the seminar will aim to improve participants’ awareness of the importance of strong fiscal institutions for sound macro-fiscal making and management.

The seminar will discuss the building blocks and options for putting in place a comprehensive institutional framework for fiscal management. It will draw on international experiences and recent developments, including current requirements under the EU fiscal governance framework. In particular, the seminar will review good practices for a sound budget process, notably with respect to fiscal forecasting, budget execution and treasury management, and reporting. These practices, combined with comprehensive management and reporting on fiscal risks, are key to re-orienting fiscal policy-making away from its traditional annual focus towards a medium-term perspective, essential precursor to establishing the credibility of medium-term budget frameworks (MTBF). The seminar will discuss in detail the elements and processes needed to facilitate fiscal policy-making within an MTBF and to ensure their effective linkage to fiscal transparency and fiscal rules. The seminar will review the features of the various types of fiscal rules and will discuss specific design features (e.g. choice of the target variable, escape clauses, automatic correction mechanism, coordination with sub-national governments). It will also discuss the challenges of adopting structural budget balance rules, as agreed, for example, under the EU’s Fiscal Compact. Finally, the seminar will explore the role of fiscal councils in strengthening fiscal performance through effective oversight of government fiscal policies and promoting public awareness and accountability.

What you wil learn

The following topics will be discussed during the workshop:

  • Fiscal institutions: An overview of international experience and key requirements
  • Fiscal reporting: Elements of timely, credible and comprehensive fiscal reporting
  • Macroeconomic and fiscal forecasting: Importance and challenges
  • Fiscal risks: What risks to monitor and report
  • Fiscal rules: Types of fiscal rules and their design options, and meeting the EU requirements
  • Medium-term budget frameworks: Essentials of MTBFs and the practicalities and challenges of implementing them
  • Fiscal councils: Their role, remit and design options, and the challenges in a resource-constraint environment
  • Budget execution and treasury management: Its role in implementing fiscal policy and maintaining fiscal discipline

How you will benefit

The objective of the course is to help officials better understand the role of strong fiscal institutions in ensuring long-term fiscal sustainability and to provide them with experience-based reform options to use in their own countries.

Who should attend

The seminar has been designed for senior level officials from fiscal agencies who actively deal with fiscal policy design, implementation and oversight. Participants from ministries of finance, ministries of economy, central executive offices, prime ministers’ offices, independent fiscal agencies, as well as permanent secretaries, or parliamentary budget and finance committees would be welcome to apply. Senior finance officials from line ministries may also be considered, subject to space availability.

Your contributions

The seminar will be highly participatory. Participants are encouraged to be active in discussions and exercises throughout the four days.

Contacts:
  • Program Facilitator
    Luka Zupančič
    luka.zupancic@cef-see.org
  • Specialist, Events
    Kristina Bogdan
    kristina.bogdan@cef-see.org
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