Structural budget balance: the pilar of the new chilean fiscal policy rule

Abstract

This paper develops the structural budget balance methodology, adopted for use in the Chilean public sector. The structural balance methodology adjusts fiscal accounts so they reflect changes in net worth and makes it possible to isolate changes in fiscal policy resulting from the main exogenous factors determining fiscal revenues: GDP and copper price. This facilitates the analysis and evaluation of fiscal policy in Chile, which, since 2000, has focused on achieving a structural budget surplus, thus ensuring the existence of counter-cyclical fiscal policy in a framework of robust fiscal accounts.