Instituição fiscal independente funções e importância no controle das contas públicas

Resumo

A fundamental theme in the conduction of public policies is transparency, whether in the origin of the resources to be applied, or in the definition of policies, or even in the effective use of such resources. Accountability to the whole of society is a crucial part of this process. Among the various public policies that a country needs, the one referring to fiscal policy stands out, that is, the way in which a government collects resources and how these resources are invested. In times of a pandemic, such as that of Covid-19, when the demand for public resources reaches levels far above normal, the need to monitor public accounts takes on another proportion, as there is, on the one hand, a demand for resources in a very large volume. and, on the other hand, a reduction in revenue. The impact on revenue during a pandemic comes both from the reduction in economic activity – e.g. due to reduced movement of people - and from tax breaks, as a way to mitigate the impact to certain sectors of the economy, affected by reduced demand. Historically, the analysis of the fiscal policy of governments in the world was carried out by bodies linked to the executive powers, generating potential conflicts of interest when it came to criticizing the way in which a given government applied public resources. Conflicts of interest can present themselves in different ways, either through very optimistic estimates, or by not pointing out imminent deficits, among others. As a way of avoiding such conflicts of interest, some countries adopt independent structures for analyzing public accounts: the Independent Fiscal Institutions – IFIs, also known as “fiscal accounts watchdogs”. Pioneering countries in the adoption of IFIs were Belgium (1936) and the Netherlands (1945). Most of the countries that today adopt an IFI structure did so in response to the great financial crisis of 2008, which is, therefore, a relatively recent diffusion phenomenon. In Brazil, the IFI structure was formally created at the end of 2016, being linked to the Federal Senate. In this work, we discuss the functions and importance of IFIs, also discussing cases of countries that do not have such a structure, and what are the possible consequences of their absence. As theoretical references, sources such as the World Bank, IMF (International Monetary Fund), OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), CBO (Congessional Budget Office, USA), among others, were used. Based on the references used, it can be affirmed that the adoption of the structure of an IFI brings benefits to the conduction of a country's fiscal policy, by promoting transparency and debate around the topic. Fundamental, however, is that such a structure must be effectively independent, considering the governance aspects discussed throughout the text. In order to illustrate the benefits of adopting an IFI, the experience of countries that do not adopt such institution is also discussed, indicating the potential conflicts of interest arising from the absence of an IFI in the conduction of fiscal policy in those countries.

Ficha do documento

Tipo

Relatório

Ano

2022

Instituição

Fundação Getulio Vargas

Fonte

Repositório da FGV

Idioma

Português

Acesso

Acesso aberto

Identificador

oai:repositorio.fgv.br:10438/31810

Temas

Políticas PúblicasFinanças PúblicasAdministração PúblicaGovernança

Palavras-chave

Instituição Fiscal IndependenteIFIContas públicasPolítica fiscalAccounts watchdogsTransparênciaIndependent Fiscal InstitutionPublic accountsFiscal policyTransparencyAdministração públicaFinanças públicasDespesa pública - Política governamentalPolítica tributáriaTransparência na administração pública