The Fiscal Responsibility Act

This norm entered into force immediately and ascribed to the Brazilian Court of Audit a set of attributions, leading the Court to play an important role in the inspection of fiscal management.

Among the attributions ascribed to the Court, the following are the most noteworthy: inspecting the implementation, by federal bodies, of the objectives established by the Budgetary Guidelines Act (Lei de Diretrizes Orçamentárias - LDO); and holding the States accountable for compliance with established limits for overall indebtedness and expenditures with personnel by the Branches of the State, and to inspect the procedures applied, whenever necessary, for returning expenditures to the established limits.

The Court is also responsible for acting in a preventive capacity, warning bodies and Branches of government when these are near their corresponding limits for expenditures and indebtedness, as well as serving notice of facts that may jeopardize compliance with the cost limits or results of government programs, as well as circumstantial evidence of irregularities in budgetary management.