The Ministry of Finance of Moldova organised a 3-day workshop on ‘Fiscal Governance and the Role of Fiscal Councils’ that took place at the end of May in Moldova. The purpose of the workshop was to present the experience on Fiscal Governance, as well as to understand the mandate and operation of the Fiscal Councils of several European countries. Slovakia was one of them.
This workshop (25-27 May 2016) was one of the planned activities by the MF Moldova to help its country to draw lessons from countries that are more advanced in their fiscal governance frameworks. The experience on Fiscal Governance in Serbia, Lithuania, Sweden and Slovakia was presented there. The workshop was attended by personnel of key departments of the Ministry of Finance, as well as representatives of non-governmental organisations active in the area of public financial management.
Head of the General Government Budget Department at the MF Slovakia: Mr Alexander Cirak was among the speakers at the workshop – with the support from PFD programme (funded by MF SR and implemented by UNDP). Mrs Viorica Neclea from MF Moldova mentioned that „Mr Cirak had a great contribution, which was highly appreciated by workshop participants. Now Moldova shall develop its own analysis. Reform process must be designed carefully, suit local conditions and capacity and it must be implemented gradually.“ That was also one of the key messages heard at the workshop.
Another important common feature pointed out the importance of the Ministry of Finance in fiscal governance. All speakers stressed „the need for the Ministry of Finance to have a clear mandate, authority and adequate capacity to design, implement and monitor fiscal policy, as well as effectively direct and manage the medium-term and annual budget processes.“
Moldova has a new fiscal framework set in Law No 181 on Public Finance and Fiscal Responsibility, which is being implemented from this year. With regard to a possible future role of a Fiscal Council in Moldova the workshop speakers advised careful analysis taking explicit account of Moldova’s institutional arrangements and the country’s capacity and financial constraints.
