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Nine in Ten Countries Fail to Provide Budget Information Needed for Government Accountability

TI Sri Lanka says: Nine in Ten Countries Fail to Provide Budget Information Needed for Government Accountability:

First ever budget transparency ranking released simultaneously in 59 countries, including Sri Lanka
59 civil society organizations from around the world recently unveiled the Open Budget Index, the first index to rate countries on how open their budget books are to their citizens. While the index finds that most countries provide at least some information to their citizens about the budget, the vast majority fail to provide the basic information necessary for good governance.

“In 53 of the 59 countries examined, citizens are limited by lack of access to information. In 10 countries, government accounts are closed books,” said Warren Krafchik, executive director of the International Budget Project, which coordinated work on the index. “A country’s ranking on the Open Budget Index is a measure of that government’s commitment to accountability and transparency.” The Open Budget Index provides citizens, legislators, and civil society advocates with the comprehensive and practical information needed to gauge a government’s commitment to budget transparency and accountability. Armed with this kind of information, lenders, development advocates, and aid organizations can identify meaningful budget reforms needed in specific countries, and increase the impact of their development work.

The Open Budget Index 2006 was calculated by the International Budget Project based on detailed questionnaires completed by local experts in 59 participating countries from every continent. Sri Lankan report was compiled by the Mr. M.D.A. Harold, the Chairman of the TI Sri Lanka and the former Deputy Auditor General.

The Index assesses the availability of key budget documents, the quantity of information they provide, and the timeliness of their dissemination to citizens in order to provide reliable information on each country’s commitment to open budgeting.

SRI LANKA

Sri Lanka scores 47% out of possible 100% on the open budget index 2006. The index evaluates the quantity of evaluation provided to the citizens in the seven key budget documents that all governments should make public during the course of the budget year. Sri Lanka’s performance indicates that the government provides the citizens with some information on the central government’s budget and financial activities but that there is much room for improvement.

The executive’s budget proposal is one of the most important documents released during the budget year. Sri Lanka’s proposal provides some information to the public scoring 53% of the information needed to present the public with the comprehensive picture of the governments’ financial activities. This suggests that there is room for improvement.

Governments should report to the citizens regularly during the budget year on their spending, revenue collecting and borrowing with in year report. Sri Lanka provides extensive information in its in year reports but it would greatly strengthen public accountability by publishing more comprehensive Mid Year review. This document provides the public with updates on what can be expected for the second half of the budget year. A year in report is by the executive is released in a timely manner but lacks the details needed to facilitate comparisons between enacted levels and actual outcomes. Sri Lanka does not provide any information on whether the Audit Reports recommendations are successfully implemented. Citizens require both access to information and opportunities during the budget considerations to use that information to ensure their informed participation in the budget debate. Sri Lanka score on the open budget index suggests that the public access to information could be improved. The research also found that the opportunities for citizens participation could be increased. For example, legislation does not hold sufficient and adequate public hearing on the budget in which the public can participate.

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