1.
LEVERAGING THE WORK OF
INDEPENDENT FISCAL INSTITUTIONS
FOR LEGISLATIVE SCRUTINY
Rolf Alter
Director, Public Governance and Territorial Development
OECD
Paris
8 February 2017

2.
1. Have IFIs impacted the quality or nature of parliamentary
debate on fiscal policy in your country in recent years?
- Specific examples
2. How are parliamentarians using the work of IFIs?
3. Are parliamentarians looking for technical expertise, and / or
professional judgement on sensitive fiscal policy issues?
4. What other tools are parliamentarians using to meet the new
demands of budget oversight?
5. How can links between IFIs and parliaments be strengthened?
2
Questions for discussion

3.
Growth of Independent fiscal institutions
3
1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1990s1980s 2010s2000s
Belgium Netherlands Denmark Austria
US
Mexico Korea
Sweden
Canada
Hungary
Slovenia
Greece
UK
Australia
Ireland
Portugal
Slovak Rep.
Chile
Finland
France
Germany
Latvia
Spain
Estonia
Italy
Luxembourg
Iceland

4.
4
“Heterogeneous but similar”
IFIs are a
heterogeneous group –
there is no one size fits
all model…
… but despite their
diversity, they tend
to have certain core
functions.
Extracts from the
OECD IFI database:
Institutional model
Functions

5.
5
Relationship with the legislature
Measure % of OECD IFIs
Key IFI reports sent to the legislature 94%
IFI leadership participates in parliamentary
hearings
94%
IFI supports the parliament in budget analysis
39%
Source: OECD IFI Database 2017

6.
6
OECD Network of Parliamentary Budget Officials
and Independent Fiscal Institutions (PBO)
• debate substantive
budgeting issues
• share practical experiences
on working methods
• identify international best
practices
• improve the practical
application of the OECD
Principles for IFIs
Draws together senior officials working in IFIs to:

7.
7
OECD Principles for IFIs
Local
ownership
Role and structure determined
according to local needs
Independence
and non-
partisanship
Independent appointments
and non-partisan analysis
Mandate
Mandate clearly defined and IFI
able to work at own initiative
Resources
Resources commensurate
with mandate
Transparency
Act as transparently as
possible
Relationship with
legislature
Appropriate accountability to
the legislature
Access to
information
Access to information
guaranteed in legislation
Communic-
ation
Effective communication
channels, especially with media
External
evaluation
A mechanism for external
evaluation in place

8.
1. Have IFIs impacted the quality or nature of parliamentary
debate on fiscal policy in your country in recent years?
- Specific examples
2. How are parliamentarians using the work of IFIs?
3. Are parliamentarians looking for technical expertise, and / or
professional judgement on sensitive fiscal policy issues?
4. What other tools are parliamentarians using to meet the new
demands of budget oversight?
5. How can links between IFIs and parliaments be strengthened?
8
Questions for discussion

9.
OECD IFI DATABASE LINK:
HTTPS://WWW.COMPAREYOURCOUNTRY.ORG/INDEPENDENT-FISCAL-INSTITUTIONS
9
THANK YOU