The Fiscal Responsibility Principles are: (a) achieving and maintaining a sustainable fiscal balance; (b) achieving and maintaining prudent levels of public debt; and (c) prudently managing fiscal risks.
Fiscal Objectives
The Government shall set fiscal objectives for the fiscal responsibility principles in the fiscal strategy report (FSR) in accordance with the First Schedule of the Act Fiscal objectives for debt.
The long-term debt fiscal objective is to reduce debt from 57 percent of GDP in FY2016/17 to a debt level of no more than 50 percent of GDP and the Government shall state the financial year by which this long term debt objective is intended to be achieved in the fiscal strategy report.
The fiscal objectives for debt shall be expressed as a percentage of GDP and as a nominal debt limit in the Fiscal Strategy Report and shall be included in the Annual Budget each year consistent with this Act.
The fiscal objective for the fiscal balance is to reduce it from a deficit of 5.8 percent of GDP in FY2016/17 to a fiscal balance that does not exceed a deficit of 0.5 percent from FY2020/21 onwards.
Fiscal Strategy Report
The fiscal strategy report shall contain a report for the recently concluded financial year which shall include:
(a) analysis of any difference in results from the macroeconomic forecasts and fiscal forecasts in the previous fiscal strategy report; (b) a summary of budget execution compared to the appropriations and statutory expenditure; (c) summary of the performance compared to the general principles in section 6, the fiscal responsibility principles in section 7 the fiscal objectives in the previous fiscal strategy report; (d) reasons for any deviations from the general principles, fiscal responsibility principles and fiscal objectives in the previous fiscal strategy report with a fiscal adjustment plan to address any such deviations, and the expected time to achieve this; (e) report on the extent to which the risks identified in the previous fiscal strategy report were realised and the effect on fiscal performance; and (f) other matters on performance the Minister considers relevant
The Council shall be responsible for assessing compliance with the general principles, fiscal responsibility principles, and fiscal objectives, and advising on fiscal and budgetary matters of the Bahamian Government.
