OECD Accruals Symposium

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• OECD Accruals Symposium

Fiscal Sustainability Tom Allen FASAB Chairman
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Fiscal Sustainability Reporting

• Purpose
• Provide information to help readers determine
  whether future budgetary resources will likely be
  sufficient to sustain public services and to meet
  obligations as they come due. 
• Enhance understanding of long-term fiscal issues

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Fiscal Sustainability Reporting

• Approach
• Fiscal Sustainability Reporting Task Force
• Technical knowledge and expertise in
  communicating information
• Current Proposals
• Long-term projections
• Present values of receipts and outlays for major
  programs, such as Social Security and Medicare,
  and all other
• Present values of receipts and outlays also as a
  percent of present value of GDP
• Narrative discussion and graphs
• Consistent time horizons for all components of
  report
• Summary Display with net present value as the
  bottom line fiscal imbalance

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Fiscal Sustainability Reporting

• Issues
• What time horizon should be used for projections
  presented in graphics and summary display?
• Finite
• Infinite
• Both finite and infinite
• What and how information should be displayed?
• Time horizon
• Appropriate level of disaggregation of inflows
  and outflows
• What ratios are needed
• What narrative and graphics are needed
• Communicate as basic or RSI within whole of
  government report?