Georgia Remains 5th among 117 Countries by Budget Transparency

The International Budget Partnership (IBP) has released a report entitled Open Budget Index 2019, where Georgia is ranked 5th in terms of budget transparency among 117 countries.

Georgia got 81 points out of 100 in state budget transparency, which is one point less than the result of the 2017 survey, however, 81 points allowed Georgia to still be ranked number 5 (similar to the result of the 2017 survey) among 117 countries, following New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden and Mexico.

Georgia's assessment has improved in terms of budget oversight with an increase from 74 points to 82 points compared to the 2017 survey results. Also, there is an improvement in the involvement of citizens.

"Based on their score, countries are grouped into five categories of performance on budget transparency. The best-performing countries have a transparency score of 81 or above: the highest transparency category is where governments provide extensive information to their public. Six countries in OBS 2019 perform in this highest category: New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, Mexico, Georgia, and Brazil," reads the report. 

The OBS uses 109 equally weighted indicators to measure budget transparency. These indicators assess whether the central government makes eight key budget documents available to the public online in a timely manner and whether these documents present budget information in a comprehensive and useful way. The mentioned eight documents are the Pre-Budget Statement; Executive’s Budget Proposal; Enacted Budget; Citizens Budget; In-Year Reports; Mid-Year Review; Year-End Report; and the Audit Report.

"Transparency alone is insufficient for improving governance: public participation in budgeting and budget oversight are vital to realize the positive outcomes associated with greater budget transparency. That’s why the OBS focuses on these two issues as well. Georgia’s performance in public participation is less impressive than in budget transparency. Georgia got 28 points out of 100 (14th place in the world) in terms of public participation and 82 points in budget oversight (11th place in the world).

"Despite the impressive performance, IBP proposes a number of recommendations for the Government of Georgia in order to continue improving its scores. The most important recommendations are related to further enrichment of the Executive’s Budget Proposal and Mid-Year Review, and creating more tools for public participation in budgetary processes,” Transparency International said.

By Ana Dumbadze