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.
