The Ministry of Finance enhances the transparency of macroeconomic forecasts

The budgetary process within the European Union is under increasing scrutiny in terms of efficiency and public control. One of the key legal acts in this area is the Council Directive 2011/85/EU of 8 November 2011 on requirements for budgetary frameworks of the Member States. Among other things, it calls for an independent evaluation of macroeconomic forecasts which are utilized for budgetary and fiscal planning.

This directive should be transposed primarily by a collection of three legal acts on budgetary responsibility, which are currently discussed in the Chamber of Deputies. The Ministry of Finance strives for utmost transparency and unbiased and objective macroeconomic forecasts, it will therefore invite experts independent from Czech government institutions to evaluate its macroeconomic forecasts, until the adoption of aforementioned acts and the founding of Council for Budgetary Forecasts. The Ministry will factor this assessment into its forecasts. Only evaluated forecasts will then serve as a basis for the state budget and the medium-term budgetary outlook.

The evaluation will be published transparently and attached to key fiscal and budgetary documents, such as the Convergence Programme of the Czech Republic, the draft State Budget Act, and the draft of the medium-term budgetary outlook.