the government deficit bias is severe (Yared 2018 ). The existing literature reports mixed results on the impact of escape clauses on fiscal stance. For example, Guerguil et al. ( 2017 ) find that escape clauses in fiscal rules do not seem to affect the cyclical stance of fiscal policy and public spending. In contrast, Combes et al. ( 2017 ) find that fiscal rules with escape clauses are harmful for stabilization in high-debt countries by making fiscal policy more procyclical. Thus, country authorities should be very careful when applying escape clauses to violate