6th Advisory Panel Meeting

  • 13. 10. 2021

Based on the OECD recommendations for fiscal councils, an advisory team of world-renowned economic experts was formed at the CBR in December 2012. The advisory panel meets when necessary, usually once every two years. Apart from the meeting, members of the panel are available for consultations per e-mail/videocalls. (Details on Advisory panel can be found here)

This year’s meeting took place on 6 and 7 October. Some panelists attended in person, some per video conference. The panel covered 4 main topics:

1 / Current proposals for Constitutional Act on budgetary responsibility amendment

2 / Changes in the activities of the CBR, formulation and communication of outputs so as to significantly contribute to the discussion on the need to ensure long-term sustainability of public finances

3 / Role and scope of CBR activities in the field of quantification of legislative measures and preparation of uniform guidelines for their processing

4 / Presentation of the Welfare Report and its use in the context of the activities of the CBR

George Kopits (right) discussing with other Panelists (Kevin Page, Holly Sutherland)

Advisory Panel participants. From left to right George Kopits, Viktor Novysedlák (Office of the CBR), members of CBR Anetta Čaplánová, Juraj Kotian, Ján Tóth and a new member of the panel Ľudovít Ódor (National bank of Slovakia).

Participants:

Holly Sutherland

is Professor Emeritus of the University of Essex. Until October 2018, she was the director of the EUROMOD system, a microsimulation model of tax benefits for the European Union, which in 2016 celebrated its 20th anniversary. She has more than 30 years of experience in designing, building and using models.

She is the co-author / editor of 5 books on microsimulation modeling. Her long-term research interests include the gender effects of redistributive policy and the measurement and analysis of child poverty.

Current interests include expanding microsimulation capacity to developing countries.

George Kopits 

has longstanding experience in the area of fiscal and monetary analyses. He began his carrier with the U.S. Treasury Department. He then worked for almost 30 years for the International Monetary Fund. He led numerous missions to various countries of the world. He co-authored key IMF publications in the field of fiscal transparency and fiscal rules (e.g., the Kopits-Symansky criteria). Later on, he was appointed as a member of Hungary’s fiscal council.

In the recent past, he has been active particularly in the area of fiscal councils. After his term at the helm of the Fiscal Council of Hungary, he accepted membership in the Portuguese fiscal council. In addition to his public engagements, George Kopits is active as a scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center and Central European University.

Kevin Page

graduated in economics at Queen’s University; in 2008-13 he served as the first-ever Parliamentary Budget Officer in Canada. Mr. Page currently works as the Research Chair at the University of Ottawa.

He had worked for more than 27 years for public institutions in Canada, mainly in the field of economic and fiscal analyses. He served at three major central agencies: Finance Canada, Treasury Board Secretariat and Privy Council Office.

Ľudovít Ódor

Is the Vice Governor of the National Bank of Slovakia, since 2016 has been a visiting professor at the Central European University in Budapest (CEU), where he lectures on fiscal policy and fiscal institutions.

Has been closely involved in several major economic decisions taken at the political level in Slovakia, concerning both monetary and fiscal issues. Has collaborated on several reform plans, including Slovakia’s euro adoption strategy, tax and pension reforms, the Fiscal Responsibility Act, and the ‘Value for Money’ project.

He is fluent in English and Hungarian.