Advisory panel

In line with OECD recommendations for fiscal councils, the CBR appointed a six-member advisory team. These internationally-renowned experts in macroeconomics and public finance have been appointed to oversee, in particular, the procedures and methodologies employed by the CBR in the pursuit of its tasks mandated by law.

The Advisory Panel is scheduled to convene once a year. Apart from attending the panel’s meetings, its members are available for consultation by electronic means throughout the year. The expertise of the advisors guarantees the high-quality output of the CBR’s work. The advisors perform their function for free.

The CBR is honoured that the following personalities have agreed to cooperate:

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.

Simon Wren-Lewis

is a professor of economics at the University of Oxford. He began his career working for the H.M. Treasury. In 1981, he accepted an offer to work for the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), where he constructed the first version of the renowned NIGEM model. He was then a professor at Strathclyde University and, later on, at Exeter University.

He has a long track record of publications in prestigious academic journals, primarily in the area of monetary and fiscal policy in small macro-models and in the area of equilibrium exchange rates. He is a long time “fan” of fiscal councils:  his proposal from 2007 strongly influenced the formation of the Office for Budget Responsibility in the UK. He is also currently known through his Mainly Macro blog.

Daniele Franco

has recently moved to the Italian Ministry of Finance, leaving the position of the managing director for economic research and international relations of the Bank of Italy. Previously, he was in charge of the Public Finance Division for ten years.

He also worked shortly for the European Commission. He has written books on public spending, social safeguards and fiscal rules in Europe. In addition, he is an author of numerous publications on budget policy, fiscal federalism, generational accounting, taxation of financial assets and income distribution. He co-authored the proposal to set up Italy’s fiscal council.

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.

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.

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.

 

Advisors Meetings

 

First Meeting of the Advisory Panel

The first meeting of the Advisory Panel to the CBR took place on October 4, 2013, in Bratislava. The advisors together with the members of the Council for Budget Responsibility discussed issues ranging from the fiscal framework of the CBR, its economic models, measuring the output gap and structural balance of public finances, OECD principles for independent fiscal institutions as well as long-term sustainability of public finance.

From left to right: Ľudovít Ódor, Michal Horváth, Ivan Šramko, Daniele Franco, Viktor Novysedlák, George Kopits, Philip Lane and Kevin Page. You can find more about the CBR’s advisors in their short profiles.

Please find also the minutes from the meeting here.

Second Meeting of the Advisory Panel

The second meeting of the Advisory Panel took place in Bratislava on October 3, 2014. Fiscal councils missions, fiscal risk assessment, long-term sustainability of public finances, DSGE models and others were being discussed.

From left to right: Viktor Novysedlák, Ivan Šramko, Ľudovít Ódor, Daniele Franco, Michal Horváth, George Kopits and Kevin Page. Please read more about the CBR’s advisors in their short profiles.

Please find the minutes from the meeting here.

Third Meeting of the Advisory Panel

The third meeting of the Advisory Panel took place on 30 September 2016 in Bratislava. Fiscal risk assessment, expenditure ceilings, minimum fiscal framework standards and microsimulation models were being discussed.

On the photo left to right Daniele Franco, Ľudovít Ódor, Ivan Šramko, Kevin Page, George Kopits, Michal Horváth and Viktor Novysedlák. Please read more about the CBR’s advisors in their short profiles.

Please find the minutes from the meeting here .

Fourth Meeting of the Advisory Panel

The fourth meeting of the Advisory Panel to the CBR took place on October 5th, 2018, in Bratislava. The advisors with the members of the Council for Budget Responsibility discussed macroeconomic forecasting, budget nowcasting, communication strategy, debt sustainability, expenditure ceilings and evaluated fiscal consolidation strategies at the CBR.

Left to right: Viktor Novysedlák, Jeromin Zettelmeyer, Anetta Čaplánová, Ivan Šramko, Ľudovít Ódor, Juraj Kotian, George Kopits, Michal Horváth, Kevin Page. You can find more about the CBR’s advisors in their short profiles.

Please find the minutes from the meeting here.

Fifth Meeting of the Advisory Panel

The fifth meeting of the Advisory Panel took place for the first time virtually, on 16 September 2020. Besides the format change, there has been a personal change – Jeronim Zettelmeyer resigned since he works for the International Monetary Fund. Holly Sutherland, Professor Emeritus of the University of Essex, accepted the invitation to become one of the Advisors.

This year’s agenda had two main topics:

  • OECD review of the Council for Budgetary Responsibility
  • Discussion on possible amendments to Fiscal responsibility Act with emphasis on the Debt Brake iniciative and in the context of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

Please find the minutes from the meeting here.

Sixth Meeting of the Advisory Panel

The sixth meeting of the Advisory Panel took place in Bratislava, part of the Advisors joined virtually, on 6th and 7th October 2021. The CBR gladly welcomed Mr. Ludovit Odor, vicegovernor of the National Bank of Slovakia, among Advisors.

The Panelists discussed four main topics:

1/ Constitutional Act on budgetary responsibility amendment

2/ CBR´s mandate, communication of outputs in order to contribute to public discussion on long term sustainbility of public finances

3/ Costing manual of the CBR

4/ Welfare trend report introduction.

From left to right: George Kopits, Viktor Novysedlák (CBR), CBR members Anetta Čaplánová, Juraj Kotian, Ján Tóth and a new panel member Ľudovít Ódor (NBS).

Former Advisors

Jeromin Zettelmeyer

has been the Dennis Weatherstone Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics since January 2019. From 2014 until 2016, he served as director-general for economic policy at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. He was responsible for economic analysis and forecasting, the microeconomic policy framework, and a key policy initiative to boost private and public investment.

He also represented Germany at the OECD Economic Policy Committee and served as a founding cochair of the OECD’s Global Forum on Productivity. Before joining the German government, Zettelmeyer was director of research and deputy chief economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (2008–2014), where he cowrote and edited flagship publications. Prior to that, he was a staff member of the International Monetary Fund (1994–2008).