Public finances are our common good, which is why we are increasing independent and democratic control over them, wrote the Minister of Finance, Andrzej Domański, on the X website. On Thursday, the Sejm passed the Act on the Fiscal Council.
“Soon, the Fiscal Council will inspect the budget planning process and give an opinion on the work of the Ministry of Finance. And that's a very good thing. Public finances are our common good, which is why we are increasing independent and democratic control over them,” wrote the head of the Ministry of Finance, Andrzej Domański, on the website.
Fiscal Council
This concerns the Act on the Fiscal Council passed by the Sejm on Thursday, the purpose of which will be, among others, to implement the tasks specified in the directive of the Council of the European Union of November 8, 2011 on the requirements for the budget frameworks of member states.
This mainly concerns the assessment of macroeconomic forecasts used for the purposes of the Budget Act and medium-term budgetary and structural plans, assessing the compliance of the Budget Act with national and EU fiscal rules, as well as assessing the coherence and effectiveness of the national budget framework.
The adopted act provides that the Fiscal Council will consist of seven people. It will be headed by a chairman with one deputy. One member of the Council will be appointed by: President of the Republic of Polandthe Supreme Audit Office's board, the parliamentary committee responsible for budget matters, the Minister of Finance, representatives of trade unions, representatives of employers' organizations and representatives of organizations of local government units.
The regulations provide for changes to the exit and return clauses of the stabilizing expenditure rule (SRW). In certain cases, the Minister of Finance will be able to request the Fiscal Council to issue an opinion on the appropriateness of applying the exit clause to the draft budget act (suspension of the application of the SRW).
The Act also provides for the introduction of the possibility – after consulting the Fiscal Council – of exceeding the expenditure limit in the event of extraordinary events beyond the government's control, “causing significant economic, economic or social consequences”.
Main photo source: Tomasz Gzell/PAP