This presentation was made by Christoph Mosimann, Switzerland, at the 36th Annual Meeting of OECD Senior Budget Officials held in Rome on 11-12 June 2015.

1. Federal Department of Finance FDF
Federal Finance Administration FFA
Role of fiscal rules and
fiscal targets
Christoph Mosimann, Co-Head of Budget Section
Federal Finance Administration

2. 2
Federal Department of Finance FDF
Federal Finance Administration FFA
A decade of debt
Role of fiscal rules and fiscal targets
Federal government gross debt
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
1980 1985 1990 1995 2000
in bn of Swiss francs (rhs)
in percent of GDP (lhs)

3. 3
Federal Department of Finance FDF
Federal Finance Administration FFA
Track record
Federal government gross debt
Role of fiscal rules and fiscal targets
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
in bn of Swiss francs (rhs)
in percent of GDP (lhs)

4. 4
Federal Department of Finance FDF
Federal Finance Administration FFA
Experiences and limitations
Positive experience so far
• Introduced top-down approach into fiscal policy, which
facilitates budget process
• Rule-based fiscal policy strengthens fiscal responsibility
within coalition government and within parliament
• Forces rapid reaction to changing budgetary situations
However no panacea
• Problems of budget quality and composition must be
solved by other instruments (e.g. Task Evaluation
Program)
• Focus of debt brake is short term: no direct incentive to
tackle long-term challenges
Role of fiscal rules and fiscal targets

5. 5
Federal Department of Finance FDF
Federal Finance Administration FFA
Impact of debt brake on
budgeting and fiscal policy
• Strong top-down elements in the budget process
• Pressure to define priorities
• Revenue forecasting is of particular importance
• Consolidation programs within a predefined framework
• Short term effects on budget composition
• Strengthening of medium-term perspective
Role of fiscal rules and fiscal targets