02393cas a2200349 a 4500 AALejournalIMF022399 230101c9999 xx r poo 0 0eng d 5.00 USD 9798400200472 1018-5941 BD-DhAAL BD-DhAAL Davoodi, Hamid. Fiscal Rules and Fiscal Councils : Recent Trends and Performance during the COVID-19 Pandemic / Hamid Davoodi, Paul Elger, Alexandra Fotiou, Daniel Garcia-Macia. Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, 2022. 1 online resource (41 pages) IMF Working Papers <strong>Off-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required <strong>On-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required Electronic access restricted to authorized BRAC University faculty, staff and students Adoption of fiscal rules and fiscal councils continued to increase globally over the last decades based on two new global datasets. During the pandemic, fiscal frameworks were put to test. The widespread use of escape clauses was one of the novelties in this crisis, which helped provide policy room to respond to the health crisis. But the unprecedented fiscal actions have led to large and widespread deviations from deficit and debt limits. The evidence shows that fiscal rules, in general, have been flexible during crises but have not prevented a large and persistent buildup of debt over time. Experience shows that deviations from debt limits are very difficult to reverse. The paper also presents evidence on the benefits of a good track record in abiding by the rules. All these highlight the difficult policy choices ahead and need to further improve rules-based fiscal frameworks. Mode of access: Internet Fiscal Policy imf National Budget, Deficit and Debt imf Policy Coordination imf Policy Designs and Consistency imf Policy Objectives imf Structure and Scope of Government imf Elger, Paul. Fotiou, Alexandra. Garcia-Macia, Daniel. IMF Working Papers; Working Paper ; No. 2022/011 Full text available on IMF http://elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/001/2022/011/001.2022.issue-011-en.xml IMF e-Library