Ten years of AIReF: A comparative evaluation

Ten years of AIReF: A comparative evaluation

Fiscal institutions

Fecha: noviembre 2024

George Kopits

SEFO, Spanish and International Economic & Financial Outlook, V. 13 N.º6 (November 2024)

In response to the Global Financial Crisis, an increasing number of countries worldwide adopted independent fiscal institutions (IFIs) to promote good governance in public finances with a view to preventing repetition of such a crisis. By the mid-2010s, all euro member states were required to create IFIs. In Spain, the Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility (AIReF) was established as part of a comprehensive legislation consistent with the EU rules-based fiscal framework. Indeed, over the past decade, AIReF has contributed to the enhancement of transparency and economic governance as regards Spain’s fiscal policy, with a mandate to monitor not only the central government, but also the subnational governments – in practice a unique function among IFIs. Nevertheless, there is scope for improvement in areas such as formalizing budgetary costing of policy proposals, developing fiscal risk assessment, and assuming the role of official macro-fiscal forecasting. In addition, AIReF’s effectiveness should be strengthened by securing timely and full access to the government database and forecasts, which may not always be easy to achieve. Despite these challenges, AIReF’s performance is increasingly in line with international good practices across comparable IFIs.

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