The influence of fiscal rules on the discipline in the public finance in Poland

Fiscal rules constitute tools that match the characteristics of a transparent fiscal policy. Increasing the predictability of activities conducted within the public finance sector, which can limit politicians’ irresponsible behaviour, is of crucial importance. Fiscal rules may be preventative in nature – they can, therefore, prevent negative phenomena in the area of public finance now and in the near future. They become a kind of obstacle for potential inappropriate fiscal expansion, expenditure expansion in particular, of the public authorities, which could lead to too deep an imbalance between the liabilities of the state and the sources sufficient to cover its obligations. The trends in changes in the current public finance are supplemented by introducing fiscal rules or strengthening their role. The basic problem with fiscal rules is that in many cases they are leaky and are also not consistently observed. The aim of the article is to present a brief overview of national and supranational fiscal rules and reference to the existing situation in the public finance in Poland. The article presents the analysis of the source literature, legal acts and statistical data.