SPB Newsfeed: Exciting Learning Journey about Fiscal Institutions Concluding

Follow the trace of the CEF-IMF Seminar on Strengthening Fiscal Institutions on its social media memory. Sami Yläoutinen (Ministry of Finance, Finland), “Having been involved in trainings around the globe, I came to experience CEF seminars as leading examples in engaging participants, especially with respect to incorporating their feedback and keeping trace of their learning experience on social media.”

Delivered as part of our EU-funded project on Strategic Planning and Budgeting, the four-day seminar brought together officials from ten countries in South East Europe, and leading experts from the IMF, the EC, and participating countries.

We started our journey with getting an overview of fiscal institutions and taking a detailed look at developments and issues in South East Europe. Digging deeper into the matter, we extended our insights into macroeconomic and fiscal forecasting, with a special attention to Finnish experience. The journey continued with exploring international experiences in applying fiscal rules, and placing the discussion in the context of the EU’s fiscal requirements for member states (also represented among participants). We concluded the day with a walk through Ljubljana, following a tourist guide to the best sights in town.

On the second day, we continued the discussion on fiscal rules by taking a more detailed look at their introduction and the options to be considered. Afterwards, we debated about the role of medium-term budget frameworks in ensuring fiscal sustainability and achieving fiscal objectives, and started group work on building fiscal institutions to meet post-crisis challenges in an imaginary country called Vulnerabia. A networking dinner allowed us to better get to know our colleagues and some personal stories behind reform challenges faced in the region, which set the ground for potential future sharing of good practices in solving them.

On the third day we concentrated on fiscal councils, learning more about the available options and experiences, especially in Croatia and Serbia. We then turned our focus from the budget formulation side to the execution side, addressing the issues and solutions in managing spending and keeping the budget on track, and learning especially from Albanian experience. We also took a look ahead, discussing how to identify and best handle different fiscal risks and learning about the strategies taken in some SEE countries, in particular Serbia.

On the final seminar day, we looked at fiscal reporting and consolidation of government accounts, with a focus on Slovenian approach. The seminar concluded with participants presenting their recommendations for strengthening fiscal institutions in Vulnerabia, while cross-checking how realistic they are with the experts present at the seminar.

More information on the SPB project is available here. For a recent reflection on capturing our learning journeys, check our related Knowledge Hub Blog post; further upgrades are to follow.