Budget Oversight and Fiscal Scrutiny in North Macedonia
From May 3-5, 2023, the House Democracy Partnership (HDP) organized a Technical Assistance Consultancy (TAC) in North Macedonia, focusing on enhancing fiscal scrutiny and budget oversight. The program gathered five Members of Parliament and 42 parliamentary staff to discuss fiscal scrutiny, budget oversight, and legislative budget processes. The HDP delegation included a former U.S. Congresswoman, a former staff director of the U.S. House Committee on Budget, and the Chief of Public and Private Mandates Unit at the Congressional Budget Office. The TAC sessions encompassed discussions with key stakeholders such as the Finance and Budget Committee, the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO), the Parliamentary Institute (PI), and local Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).Topics covered included the U.S. federal budget process, North Macedonia's national budget process, mechanisms for oversight, challenges related to public debt, fiscal sustainability, and tax reform. The program also explored avenues for CSO involvement in parliament's budget review process.
