Second-Generation Fiscal Rules

Fiscal rule frameworks have evolved significantly in response to the global financial crisis. Many countries have reformed their fiscal rules or introduced new ones with a view to enhancing the credibility of fiscal policy and providing a medium-term anchor. A number of countries have complemented their supranational rules with national ones. Enforcement and monitoring mechanisms have also been upgraded. At the same time, the Fund view on fiscal rules has evolved considerably in the past decade, partly in the context of the euro area surveillance. The time is ripe for evaluating all these changes. The SDN will take stock of past experiences with fiscal rules, review recent reforms, and present new research on the effectiveness of rules. It will also provide a critical assessment of the new view on fiscal rules that has emerged in the past decade.