25.06.2020

Fiscal Advisory Council: WIFO Budget Expert Margit Schratzenstaller Appointed Member

IHS Director Martin Kocher Becomes President of the Board

The Austrian Federal Government has appointed IHS Director Martin Kocher as the new President and WIFO budget expert Margit Schratzenstaller as a member of the Austrian Fiscal Advisory Council. Both will take up their duties on 24 June 2020. The Austrian Fiscal Advisory Council is responsible for monitoring the EU fiscal rules.

On the occasion of the new appointments, Federal Minister of Finance Gernot Blümel emphasised that "careful handling of tax money is more important than ever, especially in the current situation". "Budgetary stability must be the long-term goal", said Blümel, who thanked the new President and all other members.

The Fiscal Advisory Council is an independent body whose members – 15 public finance experts – do not take instructions from others. The meetings of the Fiscal Advisory Council are also attended by representatives of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB) and the Parliamentary Budget Office as well as other public finance experts, including the WIFO economists Serguei Kaniovski, Hans Pitlik and Thomas Url.