Abstract. Following the financial crisis, the budget deficits and public debt have recorded levels that no one would have considered a few years ago. Therefore, efforts are needed to achieve fiscal consolidation. Both in academic debates and policy many believe that fiscal rules should be the central element of a successful strategy, idea argued by the fact that a rule would restrict the discretionary actions of the government, thus strengthening the fiscal consolidation. However, there are differences when it comes to precisely specifying a rule.

Therefore, in this article we want to analyze how much policy makers can rely on fiscal rules, factors necessary to achieve a high degree of effectiveness of fiscal rules, if a fiscal rule should be based on the budget balance level or the debt balance level and we will analyze whether the restrictions imposed ex-ante to the fiscal policy are superior to the ex-post penalties.

Keywords: fiscal consolidation, fiscal rules, credibility, budgetary deficit, public debt.