Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Vivek Ramkumar
Manager, Open Budget Initiative
What is the Open Budget Survey 2008?
www.InternationalBudget.org 2
Key Finding #1: Public Shut out of Budget Process
in the Majority of Countries
• Only five countries provide extensive information on
budgets to the public.
• Forty-one of 85 countries provide only minimal, scant,
or no information.
• The budget approval stage is relatively more open
than the formulation, execution and audit stages.
• Low scoring countries often share similar
characteristics, including regional locations,
dependence on oil and gas exports and foreign aid,
and weakness of democratic institutions.
www.InternationalBudget.org 3
Key Finding #2: Lack of Transparency is
Compounded by Weak Oversight Institutions
LEGISLATURE
• Limited legal powers
• Inadequate time to review budgets
• Limited funding/resources
www.InternationalBudget.org 4
Key Finding #3: Budget Transparency Can Be
Improved Quickly and at Little Cost
www.InternationalBudget.org 5
Key Finding #4
Countries Showing Significant
Improvements in Budget Transparency from
OBI 2006 to OBI 2008
OBI OBI
Country Change Comments
2006 2008
Publication of Executive’s Budget
Egypt 18 43 +25
Proposal
Introduction of multi-year
budgeting;
Georgia 33 53 +20
Elimination of extra-budgetary
funds
Introduction of multi-year
Croatia 42 59 +17 estimates;
Publication of Citizens Budget
Preparation of 3-year budget
Sri Lanka 47 64 +17
projections
Improvement in external audit;
Kenya 48 57 +9 Increased citizen participation in
budget process
Reinstitution of Parliament after
Nepal 36 43 +7
2002 political crisis
www.InternationalBudget.org 6
Recommendations for Governments
• Publish documents that are already produced for
internal use;
www.InternationalBudget.org 7
Recommendations for Donors
• Make transparent all forms of development assistance;
• Avoid off-budget funding, where possible;
• Support reforms for building effective public finance
information systems;
• Increase technical assistance and funding for Civil
Society, Legislatures, and SAIs; and,
• Conduct research on impact of donor aid on budget
transparency.
www.InternationalBudget.org 8
Contact Information
820 First Street, NE Suite 510
Washington, DC 20002
Phone: +1-202-408-1080
Fax: +1-202-408-8173
Email: info@internationalbudget.org
www.InternationalBudget.org 9