Independent Fiscal Institution

According to the Principles for Independent Fiscal Institutions, adopted by the OECD Council in 2014, “independent fiscal institutions are publicly funded, independent bodies under the statutory authority of the executive or the legislature which provide non-partisan oversight and analysis of, and in some cases advice on, fiscal policy and performance”, and with “a forward-looking ex ante diagnostic task”. In practice, they come in two main forms:
 * parliamentary budget offices (e.g., the Congressional Budget Office in the United States, and the Center for Public Finance Studies in Mexico); or
 * fiscal councils (e.g., the Office for Budget Responsibility in the United Kingdom, and the Swedish Fiscal Policy Council).

Examples
Croatia: Nicaragua:
 * Croatia’s Finance and Central Budget Committee is NOT. It is a regular parliamentary committee.
 * Croatia’s Fiscal Policy Committee IS an IFI. While it is chaired by an MP, it has varied membership and was established as an independent body as part of the implementation of fiscal responsibility legislation.
 * "Dirección General de Análisis y Seguimiento Presupuestario y Económico" is NOT. It is established by the Ley Organica del Poder Legislativo, subsection of “Organos Auxiliares Sustantivos de la Asamblea Nacional”. Not established by its own law, but dependent on and advises the Congress. It is in charge of “elaborar el análisis, seguimiento y evaluación al presupuesto general de la república y a la economía nacional para la toma de decisiones de los diputados y diputadas y representar a la Asamblea Nacional ante el Comite Tecnico de Inversiones y Comite Tecnico de Deuda”.
 * Similar cases in Dominican Republic and El Salvador. They have NO IFIs.

External references
Principles for Independent Fiscal Institutions and Case Studies