Version in Français Without good fiscal information, governments
can’t understand the fiscal risks they face or make good budget
decisions. And unless that information is made public, citizens
and their legislatures can’t hold governments accountable for
those decisions. Fiscal transparency—the public availability of
timely, reliable, and relevant data on the past, present, and
future state of the public finances—is thus crucial to the
foundation of effective fiscal management. A new paper from the
IMF on fiscal transparency, accountability, and risk considers
the progress we have made in opening up the “black box” of
fiscal policymaking over the past decade, the lessons of the
recent crisis for current fiscal reporting standards and
practices, and the steps we need to take to revitalize the
global fiscal transparency effort. Revealing governments’ fiscal
mysteries—how much progress have we made? The last ten years
have seen the development of improved standards for fiscal
reporting, such as the International