Fiscal councils’ impact on promoting transparency and accountability in public finance management

Sanja Bach ()
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Sanja Bach: Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Croatia, Zagreb, Croatia

Public Sector Economics, 2020, vol. 44, issue 3, 355-384

Abstract: This paper addresses two main questions: (1) how far do the activities of fiscal councils in the EU countries help promote transparency and accountability in the management of public finances and (2) how could fiscal councils enhance the impact of those activities? The analysis is based on a questionnaire collected in 2016 from fiscal councils in 18 EU countries. The questionnaire looked at how the councils themselves assessed their impact on the management of public finances, and how they communicated their findings to the wider public. The councils see some benefits of their work; and their monitoring of adherence to fiscal rules and legislative regulation, as well as their warnings about excessive government spending, seem to get noticed in the media. This activity informs the public, and may in turn influence politicians’ ratings, thereby helping to contribute to greater accountability in the management of public finances. The paper consequently argues that fiscal councils may promote fiscal transparency and accountability and proposes several ways to enhance the effectiveness of their influence on media.

Keywords: fiscal councils; fiscal transparency; fiscal accountability; fiscal policy communication; media influence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E62 G28 H60 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ipf:psejou:v:44:y:2020:i:3:p:355-384

DOI: 10.3326/pse.44.3.4

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