Cabo Verde’s public accounts, budget execution and public debt developments will now be evaluated by a Public Finance Council, according to a bill that is being discussed this week in the country’s parliament.

The proposal, which is being discussed in general at the ordinary session of the National Assembly to be held from 13 to 15 November in Praia, stipulates that the mission of the Public Finance Council will be to “make an independent assessment of the consistency, compliance and sustainability of fiscal policy, while promoting its transparency.”

The proposal states that the officials who will be part of the Public Finance Council, “of recognised merit in the economic and financial area,” must have more than 10 years of experience, being appointed to full-time five-year terms by the Council of Ministers, three under the proposal of the Minister of Finance, one under the proposal of the Court of Auditors and another of the Bank of Cabo Verde.

The council will be responsible for assessing government macroeconomic scenarios and the consistency of budget forecasts with those scenarios, as well as compliance with established budgetary rules, the dynamics of public debt and the evolution of its sustainability, as well as the financial situation of local authorities.

It will also have the power to assess the economic and financial situation of corporate public sector entities and their potential impact on the consolidated state of public accounts and their sustainability, to analyse tax expenditure and to monitor budget execution, according to Portuguese news agency Lusa.

The new council will produce reports on the previous year’s budget execution, the consistency of the medium-term fiscal framework instruments, the consistency of the medium-term expenditure framework instruments and the state budget. (Macauhub)