Review of Treasury Macroeconomic and Revenue Forecasting
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REVIEW OF TREASURY MACROECONOMIC AND REVENUE FORECASTING December 2012 © Commonwealth of Australia 2013 ISBN 978-0-642-74883-6 This publication is available for your use under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence, with the exception of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, the Treasury logo, photographs, images, signatures and where otherwise stated. The full licence terms are available from http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/legalcode. Use of Treasury material under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence requires you to attribute the work (but not in any way that suggests that the Treasury endorses you or your use of the work). Treasury material used ‘as supplied’ Provided you have not modified or transformed Treasury material in any way including, for example, by changing the Treasury text; calculating percentage changes; graphing or charting data; or deriving new statistics from published Treasury statistics — then Treasury prefers the following attribution: Source: The Australian Government the Treasury Derivative material If you have modified or transformed Treasury material, or derived new material from those of the Treasury in any way, then Treasury prefers the following attribution: Based on The Australian Government the Treasury data Use of the Coat of Arms The terms under which the Coat of Arms can be used are set out on the It’s an Honour website (see www.itsanhonour.gov.au). Sources Unless stated otherwise, the source for charts and tables is the Treasury and the source for macroeconomic data outcomes is the Australian National Accounts (ABS Cat. No. 5206.0). Other Uses Inquiries regarding this licence and any other use of this document are welcome at: Manager Communications The Treasury Langton Crescent Parkes ACT 2600 Email: [email protected] Dr Martin Parkinson PSM Secretary to the Treasury Treasury Building Langton Crescent, Parkes ACT 2600 Dear Dr Parkinson, We have pleasure in presenting to you the Treasury Forecasting Review (attached). With the last major review completed in 2005, the intention of this Review is to undertake an up-to-date ‘health check’ of the Treasury's economic and revenue forecasting processes and associated performance. The Advisory Panel considers that those objectives have been achieved. The report was prepared by the Secretariat established within the Treasury for that purpose. The Review does not include the 2012-13 Budget forecasts since outcomes for 2012-13 are not yet available. The Secretariat has authored the report and is responsible for the data, analysis and commentary in the report. The Advisory Panel has played an oversight role, including providing comments and suggestions to the Secretariat on the scope and content of the report. In addition, the Advisory Panel has prepared the Executive Summary which includes a number of recommendations and suggestions for further improving the Treasury’s forecasting processes going forward. The Advisory Panel considers that these suggestions may assist the Treasury in meeting the considerable forecasting challenges that arise during times of heightened economic uncertainty and volatility. The members of the Advisory Panel would like to thank you for the opportunity of contributing to this Review. We would also like to thank the members of the Secretariat for their co-operative and unfailingly helpful approach throughout to the various discussions about forecasting methodologies, assessments of the quality of the forecasts and the governance arrangements for producing the forecasts, and for their willingness to either debate or take on board the Advisory Panel’s suggestions. The Advisory Panel considers that periodic reviews of the Treasury’s forecasting methodology and record involving external advisers are to be commended and reflect positively on the Treasury. Yours sincerely Dr David Chessell (Chair) Mr Peter Crone Dr Malcolm Edey Dr Lynne Williams Advisory Panel to the Review of Treasury Macroeconomic and Revenue Forecasting TABLE OF CONTENTS Letter of Transmission ........................................................................................................................ iii Terms of Reference .............................................................................................................................. vii Executive Summary .............................................................................................................................. ix Recommendations of the Treasury Forecasting Review ............................................................... xxiii Section 1: Background ........................................................................................................................... 1 Section 2: Appropriateness of Forecasting Methodology ................................................................... 7 Section 3: Quality and Accuracy of Forecast Performance ............................................................. 25 Section 4: Case Studies ........................................................................................................................ 43 Attachment A: Recommendations of the 2005 Forecasting Review ............................................. A–1 Attachment B: Further Detail of Macroeconomic Forecasting Practices .................................... B–1 Attachment C: Further Detail of Revenue Forecasting Practices ................................................ C–1 Attachment D: Macroeconomic Forecasting Performance ........................................................... D–1 Attachment E: Revenue Forecasting Performance ........................................................................ E–1 v TERMS OF REFERENCE Review of Treasury Macroeconomic and Revenue Forecasting Background Treasury’s forecasting of the macroeconomy and revenues operates in an environment of continuous evaluation and development. The forecasts are regularly subjected to internal review and to external review as part of the quarterly Joint Economic Forecasting Group (JEFG) meetings with relevant agencies. However, from time to time, it is valuable to formally take stock of the Department’s forecasting capability and performance. This was most recently done in 2005 for both macroeconomic and revenue forecasting, and it is timely to again take stock. Scope The review will assess the quality of Treasury forecasting of the macroeconomy and revenue by examining the appropriateness of forecasting methodologies and comparing forecast accuracy with other forecasters both in Australia and overseas. Governance The review will be undertaken by a team within Treasury, overseen by an independent external Reference Group with relevant expertise. Timing Three months. Reporting A summary of the Review will be published later in the year. vii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Introduction The past 10 years has been challenging for economic and revenue forecasting. Two major developments in particular stand out. The first relates to rapid rates of industrialisation in Asia, particularly in China, which increased worldwide demand for natural resources and, in turn, underpinned a sharp sustained rise in commodity prices and a mining investment boom (Mining Boom Mark I). The second relates to the impact of the global financial crisis and its aftermath on the Australian economy and taxation receipts and the emergence of a second phase of the mining boom (GFC and Mining Boom Mark II). In common with many forecasters in Australia and overseas, Treasury has experienced mixed success forecasting over this period. In particular, the identification and prediction of major turning points in economic activity recently has been a failing of most forecasters around the world. Against this backdrop of a volatile economic environment, and the time that has passed since the previous review, Treasury decided that it was again timely to formally take stock of the Department’s forecasting practices, capability and performance. The Review has: • assessed the quality of Treasury’s macroeconomic and revenue forecasts by examining the appropriateness of forecasting methodologies and, data permitting, comparing forecast accuracy with other forecasters, both in Australia and overseas, over periods between 1990-91 and 2011-12; and • prepared two case studies, which relate to the most recent challenges confronting forecasters, namely Mining Boom Mark I (2003-04 to 2007-08) and the GFC and Mining Boom Mark II (2008-09 to 2011-12). A Secretariat was established within Treasury for this purpose, overseen by an independent external reference group. Treasury’s Macroeconomic and Revenue Forecasting Methodology The Review’s terms of reference require the quality of Treasury’s forecasts to be assessed by first examining the appropriateness of forecasting methodologies. With this end in mind, a high-level survey of international forecasting practices has been prepared that provides a benchmark against which to assess Treasury’s forecasting methodology. The Review has assessed Treasury’s forecasting processes against the criteria that Treasury: • draws upon the full range of information in preparing its forecasts; • utilises this information efficiently by drawing upon models/technical tools appropriate to the forecasting task; and • has governance arrangements in place that provide quality assurance of its forecasts and ensure continuous evaluation of its methodology. The Review finds that Treasury has made a substantial investment in its macroeconomic and taxation revenue forecasting