CFP in the APDR Congress

Rui Nuno Baleiras, Executive Member of the Portuguese Public Finance Council (CFP), took part in the “Policy Forum” which was held at the 24^th APDR Congress, 5-7 July, in Covilhã following the theme “Intellectual Capital and Regional Development”.

The possible allocation of a significant set of responsibilities to local authorities, currently carried out by the central government, is under political discussion over the past couple of months and is expected to continue throughout 2018. The public at large remains poorly informed about the issues at stake. The CFP’s Executive Member of the Senior Board took the floor in the “Policy Forum” to trigger the participants’ attention to a number of economic principles and methodological suggestions that can benefit the ultimate political decisions. His presentation slides are herewith made available to the public at large.

The “Policy Forum” was a three-panel debate on space-relevant economic policy issues. The first panel addressed “Public Policies and European Financing”, the second “Decentralisation and Territorial Policies” and the third “Regional Sustainability: new entrepreneurial business models”. Rui Nuno Baleiras was part of the second panel, together with Paulo Fernandes, the mayor of the Fundão municipality and former territorial leader of the well-known “Aldeias do Xisto—Schist Villages” regional development network. This network was powered by the PROVERE Collective Efficiency Strategy. The “Policy Forum” was a joint venture by the Portuguese Regional Development Association (APDR) and the Beira Interior University (UBI).

In the APDR Congress, the CFP analyst Rui Dias presented the book “Local Finance: Economic-Institutional Foundations and the Portuguese Experience between 1987 and 2017“, written by Rui Nuno Baleiras, Rui Dias and Miguel Almeida, which will be published shortly by the CFP. This is a thorough study on the institutional and economic foundations of Portuguese local finances. Based on 30 years of individual and aggregate fiscal data, it unfolds the public accounts image of the politico-economic activity performed by the local public subsector.

The work goes beyond the traditional cash figures to discuss the soundness of the budgetary framework. Legislative norms, institutional features and economic principles join in fiscal outturns to interpret account developments and analyse systemic strengths and weaknesses. Roots and medicines regarding the financial challenges of the last eight years receive substantial care. There are relevant lessons for many other countries as well. The economic analysis of experience contains lessons to be taken into account to improve the future framework.

Date of last update: 05/07/2017