A Long-Term Fiscal Sustainability Analysis and Reporting Framework is Long Overdue in Alberta

TB&F’s recent work on long-term robust systems and processes to analyze fiscal sustainability analysis and reporting and report on the province’s long-term appears to be centered on the preparation fiscal sustainability have been slow to of briefing notes to respond to the annual develop within TB&F, despite sporadic release of the Parliamentary Budget Office initiatives undertaken in the past dec. [...] assess the sustainability of public finances by quantifying emerging fiscal pressures and Over the past half decade, the Government risk; illustrating long-term consequences of of Alberta’s criticism of long-term fiscal the policy ‘status quo; and assessing fiscal sustainability analysis and reporting, by such outcomes under longer-term scenarios of organizations as the Parliamentary Budget intere. [...] 5 International models and best practices Organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the World Bank have all recognized the importance of and the need for governments to focus on long-term fiscal sustainability as one of the “best practice” elements in financial planning, particularly among resource-rich jurisdi. [...] 9 The contours of a long-term fiscal sustainability framework It is time for TB&F to finally formalize long-term fiscal sustainability analysis and reporting within government fiscal planning processes and systems, and to enact a legislated requirement for the preparation and release of a long-term fiscal sustainability report, published every three years. [...] The purpose of a long-term fiscal sustainability report would be to evaluate the fiscal impact of key demographic trends and risk factors to the provincial economy and the province’s finances, and to provide a framework to assess the long-term fiscal implications of current and future policy decisions.