these countries were selected on the basis of their responses to the 2007 OECD Budget Practices and Procedures Survey, particularly the question on the frequency of their projections and the length of time covered.

Countries integrate projections with other budget practices and procedures in various ways. Examples include the use of long-term projections when evaluating existing and new government initiatives, such as entitlement spending, and linking the analysis of projections through budget triggers. Budget triggers are a signal for budget restraint based on indicator of solvency (e.g., actuarial projections) or a sustainability factor (e.g,. dependency ratio). Triggers may be hard or soft. Hard triggers usually involve automatic cuts to program spending, changes in eligibility criteria or benefit formulas of mandatory spending, or tax increases. Soft triggers often involve result in further proposals to change the path of fiscal policy but are not guaranteed to produce changes (Government Accountability Office, 2008).

An overview of the fiscal futures reports from the 12 countries surveyed is presented in Table G-2.