The OECD review of the fiscal policy monitoring function of the National Audit Office of Finland has been completed

The independent review carried out by the OECD of the fiscal policy monitoring function of the National Audit Office of Finland has been completed. The review was carried out during 2020-2021. The OECD review team was composed of OECD experts as well as international peer experts from Ireland, Austria and the United States and professor Niku Määttänen from the University of Helsinki. As part of the review, the team interviewed the central stakeholders of the fiscal policy monitoring function.

According to the OECD review, the NAOF and its fiscal policy monitoring function have increased the transparency of fiscal policy in Finland. Stakeholders regard the NAOF’s fiscal policy monitoring as a credible, independent and impartial institution. The OECD technical assessment concludes that each of the IFI’s tools that were reviewed in detail by the OECD are appropriate for its analysis.

The OECD recommends in the review that the independence and visibility of the fiscal policy monitoring function should be increased both inside the NAOF and also towards stakeholders. Also, the depth of the IFI’s analytical work should be increased, but at the same time it is important to ensure sufficient focus on its mandatory tasks. The OECD also proposes that the fiscal policy monitoring function and fiscal policy audit activities should be merged in the NAOF organization, because these functions are very close to each other.

“We appreciate the comprehensive work of the OECD and the useful recommendations included in the review. The systematic analysis of our function in the review provides us with a good basis for the development of our work in the future”, says Matti Okko, the director in charge of the fiscal policy monitoring.

OECD review (pdf)