Set up fiscal council for fiscal sustainability - IEA

The Institute for Economic Affairs is calling on government to set up a fiscal council which will provide an independent assessment of macroeconomic and revenue forecasts to ensure fiscal sustainability in the country.

According to adjunct research fellow of the IEA, Dr. Eric Osei-Assibey, the fiscal council will serve as a watchdog to make sure that government does not deviate from the course of fiscal sustainability.

Speaking at a policy forum on making Ghana’s fiscal policy council work, Dr. Eric Osei-Assibey stated that the lack of a fiscal council is the cause of large deficits over the years.

“The fiscal council looks at government data [to] see if the government is in line with its own fiscal policy objectives. It either commends or reprimands government about what it is doing.”

He added that “the fiscal council will be an independent council that will ensure monitoring and enforcement procedures to fiscal sustainability.”

The institute stated that forecasts produced by the council can serve as a neutral baseline to assess the fiscal cost and macroeconomic impact of policy proposals.

They added that it will also play the same role as the monetary policy committees, deciding on deficits and the evaluation of public debt.