The President of the Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility (AIReF), Cristina Herrero, took part today in the 150th anniversary of the General State Comptroller (Spanish acronym: IGAE), inaugurated by His Majesty King Felipe VI in the Auditorium of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía [Reina Sofía National Arts Museum Centre]. The inauguration was also attended by the First Vice-President of the Government and Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, and the General State Comptroller, Pablo Arellano.
AIReF’s President took part in a panel discussion with the President of the Court of Auditors, Enriqueta Chicano, and the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Spain, Margarita Delgado, moderated by the General State Comptroller. They discussed the perspective of the IGAE by entities with related functions.
Cristina Herrero stressed that AIReF is a young but consolidated institution, with public finance functions that complement those of the IGAE, the Court of Auditors and even the Bank of Spain. AIReF filled a vacuum and is a different institution, as it is not a supervisory body, nor a regulatory body, nor does it have management or disciplinary powers. AIReF’s mission is to ensure the sustainability of the public accounts through two mutually reinforcing functions: fiscal monitoring and public policy evaluation.
AIReF’s supervision, which has been part of the institution’s explicit mandate since 2014, is different from IGAE oversight. AIReF carries out ex-ante monitoring for short-, medium- and long-term risk warnings. Independent Fiscal Institutions (IFIs), such as AIReF, provide input and analysis to ensure the body responsible for budgetary policy does not lose sight of the sustainability of public finances.
Evaluation, which is not an explicit function provided for in the Law on the Creation of AIReF, is a natural and necessary complement to its fiscal supervision function. According to Cristina Herrero, it provides evidence for informed decision-making in the field of public finance. In addition, AIReF is the only institution with the capacity and legal standing to carry out evaluations that affect different tiers of the General Government.
AIReF’s President stated that the functions performed by the institution are crucial at the present time, marked by the return to fiscal rules and the transition towards a reformed Stability and Growth Pact that focuses on sustainable and quality public finances that are compatible with growth. Countries will have to submit medium-term fiscal strategies, which will lead to complex and demanding sustainability exercises, to which AIReF can make a significant contribution.
Support from the IGAE
The President also highlighted the importance of IGAE’s support for the performance of AIReF’s functions. The IGAE provides essential data for the preparation of the institution’s forecasts. In addition, AIReF called on the IGAE when it had to analyse subsidies in the scope of the Spending Review 2018-2022 and it was essential to make use of the national subsidies database. Moreover, in the early years, the audit office in AIReF was of great help in starting up the institution.
Cristina Herrero also highlighted AIReF’s independence and functional autonomy in the performance of its functions. AIReF’s funding is independent of the Budget and has a procedure for the appointment of the presidency that requires a large parliamentary majority. It is also subject to the control of the IGAE and the Court of Auditors and undergoes external evaluations on its own initiative.
To conclude, the President stressed that AIReF fills a gap in the Spanish economy both in terms of the functions it performs and due to its unique configuration. It is an institution with the ability to analyse public accounts that is different from those of other agents and is now key for understanding public finance. An institution which, moreover, is at the service of all General Government sub-sectors equally, and which acts with total impartiality in the performance of its functions.