Fiscal Rules and FiscalCouncils: Recent Trends and Revisionssince the Pandemic Virginia Alonso, Clara Arroyo, Ozlem Aydin, VybhaviBalasundharam, Hamid R. Davoodi, Gabriel Hegab, W. RaphaelLam, Anh Minh Nguyen, Natalia Salazar Ferro, Galen Sher,Alexandra Solovyeva, and Nino Tchelishvili WP/25/198 IMF Working Papersdescribe research inprogress by the author(s) and are published toelicit comments and to encourage debate.The views expressed in IMF Working Papers arethose of the author(s) and do not necessarilyrepresent the views of the IMF, its Executive Board,or IMF management. 2025OCT IMF Working PaperFiscal Affairs Department Fiscal Rules and Fiscal Councils: Recent Trends and Revisions since the Pandemic Prepared by Virginia Alonso, Clara Arroyo, Ozlem Aydin, Vybhavi Balasundharam, Hamid R. Davoodi,Gabriel Hegab, W. Raphael Lam, Anh Minh Nguyen, Natalia Salazar Ferro, Galen Sher, AlexandraSolovyeva, and Nino Tchelishvili* Authorized for distribution by Davide FurceriOctober 2025 IMF Working Papersdescribe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicitcomments and to encourage debate.The views expressed in IMF Working Papers are those of theauthor(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF, its Executive Board, or IMF management. ABSTRACT:This paper examines the evolving landscape of fiscal rules and fiscal councils worldwide,focusing on developments since the pandemic. Drawing on the latest updates to the IMF’s Fiscal Rules andFiscal Councils databases—which cover more than 120 economies and 54 fiscal councils—it documents theincreasing adoption of fiscal rules, particularly in emerging markets and developing economies. The analysishighlights improvements in the legal foundations and flexibility of fiscal rules, along with a growing role foreffective fiscal councils in providing oversight. Despite these advancements, compliance remains uneven, withwidespread and persistent deviations from deficit and debt rule limits. The paper introduces new indices toquantify the overall strength of fiscal rules and the institutional quality of fiscal councils, revealing significantcross-country variation and a positive correlation between the strength of rules and fiscal discipline. RECOMMENDED CITATION:Alonso, V., C. Arroyo, O. Aydin, V. Balasundharam, H.R. Davoodi, G. Hegab,A.M. Nguyen, N. Salazar Ferro, G. Sher, A. Solovyeva, and N. Tchelishvili. 2025. “Fiscal Rules and FiscalCouncils: Recent Trends and Revisions since the Pandemic”, IMF Working Paper No.25/198, InternationalMonetary Fund, Washington, D.C. Fiscal Rules and Fiscal Councils:Recent Trends and Revisionssince the Pandemic Prepared by Virginia Alonso, Clara Arroyo, Ozlem Aydin, VybhaviBalasundharam, Hamid R. Davoodi, Gabriel Hegab, W. Raphael Lam, AnhMinh Nguyen, Natalia Salazar Ferro, Galen Sher, Alexandra Solovyeva,and Nino Tchelishvili1 Contents A.Evolving design features of fiscal rules...............................................................................................7Statutory basis.........................................................................................................................................7Escape clause provisions ........................................................................................................................8Correction mechanism...........................................................................................................................10Monitoring of fiscal rules........................................................................................................................11Linkages of fiscal rules with medium-term fiscal frameworks (MTFFs) .................................................11B.Measuring the ‘Strength’ of Fiscal Rules ..........................................................................................12C.Compliance with Fiscal Rules ...........................................................................................................17D.Revisions of Fiscal Rules After the Pandemic ..................................................................................19E.Changing Institutional Features of Fiscal Councils ...........................................................................20Benchmarking fiscal councils against desirable principles ....................................................................21 A.What is considered a fiscal rule in this paper and in the dataset? ....................................................29B.Types of fiscal rules ..........................................................................................................................29C.Other characteristics of fiscal rules ...................................................................................................30D.What is considered a fiscal council in this paper and in the dataset?...............................................31E.Key characteristics of a fiscal council ............