Georgia is 16th among 102 states with its transparent budgetary system
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Monday, September 14
Georgia was ranked 16th among 102 foreign states based on its budget transparency, budget participation and budget oversight in a survey conducted by the International Budget Partnership’s Open Budget Survey (OBS) of 2015.
The survey announced that since 2012, Georgia has advanced from the 33th place to the 16th.
The survey has a 100 score system.
Georgia received 66/100 in the Budget Transparency Index; 46/100 in the Budget Participation Index and 73/100 in the Budget Oversight Index.
In order to improve the current situation the organization provided recommendations.
Georgia should prioritize the following actions to improve budget transparency:
• Produce and publish a Mid-Year Review.
• Increase the comprehensiveness of the Executive’s Budget Proposal by, for example, presenting verifiable (quantitative) output and outcome indicators in the program budget appendix that can help measure deliverables in the subprograms and their impact over the period of four years.
• Increase the comprehensiveness of the Year-End Report.
Georgia should prioritize the following actions to improve budget participation:
• Establish credible and effective mechanisms (i.e., public hearings, surveys, focus groups) for capturing a range of public perspectives on budget matters.
• Ensure the public is informed of the purpose of public budget engagements and provided with sufficient information to participate effectively.
• Provide detailed feedback on how public assistance and participation has been used by the supreme audit institution.
Georgia should prioritize the following actions to strengthen budget oversight:
• In both law and practice, ensure the legislature is consulted prior to the spending of contingency funds that were not identified in the Enacted Budget.
OBS is the world’s only independent, comparable measure of budget transparency, participation, and oversight.
The International Budget Partnership (IBP) collaborates with civil society around the world to use budget analysis and advocacy as a tool to improve effective governance and reduce poverty.
