The Economic and Social Stabilization Fund (ESSF) is a state-owned fund in Chile aimed at stabilizing the finances of the Central Government in face of potential "abrupt changes in the economic cycle and extraordinary events". [1] It was created in 2007 by the merger of the former Copper Stabilization Fund (Spanish: Fondo de Compensación para los ingresos del Cobre) and of the stabilization resources created by Decreto Ley N° 3.653 of 1981. [1] [2] [3] The fund is also used yearly to amortize part of the public debt and to add to the Pension Reserve Fund. [1] The fund is subject to the Fiscal Responsibility Law. [1]
The Copper Stabilization Fund was created in 1987 basing it on the incomes of the state-owned copper mining company Codelco. [4] This allowed for more precise annual government budget planning given that copper prices can exhibit strong fluctuations. [5]