National Fiscal Frameworks during COVID-19: Weathering the Storm, Challenges Ahead

Christian Weise

No 184, European Economy - Discussion Papers from Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic brought severe challenges to fiscal policy and constituted an important test for the changes in national fiscal frameworks and institutions that were introduced after the Great Recession. Based mainly on information from the European Commission Fiscal Governance Database, this paper explains the strengthening of national frameworks since 2011 and shows that the reformed systems worked well during the pandemic. Nevertheless, some problems, like insufficient medium-term approaches to budgeting and sometimes not-yet-strong-enough independent fiscal institutions, persist. Addressing these problems has become even more pressing post-COVID as strong priority-setting for the green and digital transition is required and necessary increases in the quality of public finances demand an improved national debate on fiscal policy.

JEL-codes: H12 H50 H61 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 24 pages
Date: 2023-03
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:euf:dispap:184

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