52
The targets for the budget balances and public debts of the Member States of the European Union (EU) should depend on the degree of risk of each country, defended the International Monetary Fund (IMF) yesterday, in a proposal to reform the EU’s budgetary architecture. While maintaining 3% and 60% of GDP as reference values for public accounts (provided for in the Stability and Growth Pact), “the speed and ambition of budgetary adjustments must be linked to the degree of risk”, defended the IMF yesterday, whose budget affairs department is led by the Portuguese and former Minister of Finance, Vítor Gaspar.
The risk would be assessed using a debt sustainability analysis methodology to be developed by a new European body, the European Fiscal Council (EFC), an independent body.
“Countries with greater fiscal risks would need to converge towards a balanced or positive fiscal balance over the next three to five years. Countries with lower fiscal risks and a debt of less than 60% of GDP would have greater flexibility, but they also need to consider risks in their plans”, reads the IMF communication on the proposal, signed by Vítor Gaspar, Alfred Kammer ( director of the European department) and Ceyla Pazarbasioglu (Director of Strategy).
Read more in Dinheiro Vivo
