The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) is an agent of Parliament.
As a neutral, non-partisan party independent of government, he assists senators and members of Parliament in their work.
The PBO is responsible for providing economic and financial analysis to Parliament for the purposes of raising the quality of parliamentary debate and promoting greater budget transparency and accountability.
Before a general election, the PBO’s role changes: political parties and independent members of Parliament can ask him to estimate the financial cost of their campaign promises.
