BUDGET TRANSPARENCY A core pillar of Open Government

Katharina Zuegel MENA-OECD Governance Programme

• MENA-OECD Open Government Project

• Open Government

• Budget Transparency

• Budget transparency in Morocco and Tunisia

Agenda

MENA-OECD Open Government

Project

The support to MENA countries includes: Peer review of the open government framework with policy recommendations:

Highlighting opportunities and challenges for open government Measuring the performance of the country vis-à-vis OGP eligibility criteria and

recommendations to reach eligibility and elaborate an OGP Action Plan

Capacity building trainings International knowledge sharing conferences

OECD International

Open Government

Forum

Discussion between MENA Ministers and civil society at the OGP Summit

Promoting responsive, participatory and accountable governments that can foster socio-economic development

Open Government

What is Open Government? The OECD defines open government as “the transparency of government actions, the accessibility of government services and information, and the responsiveness of government to new ideas, demands and needs.

Open Government

Open Government Partnership (OGP)

Launched on 20 September 2011 by 8 countries with today 65 members, including Jordan, Tunisia and Morocco on its way to accession.

The OECD is an official multilateral partner

The OGP is a global partnership to improve the availability of information, promote citizen’s engagement, reinforce integrity and improve access to new technologies for transparency and accountability.

The OGP Process: Reach eligibility Elaborate an Action Plan in

consultation with citizens Self-report Independent Evaluation

Budget transparency – a pillar of open

government

OGP minimum eligibility criteria Budget transparency Publication of the Executive’s Budget Proposal and thee= Audit Report

Access to information

Public Officials Asset Disclosure

Citizen participation

OECD Open Government Principles Engagement Transparency Accountability Integrity

openness about policy intentions, formulation and implementation

broad consultation and debate on sources and use of public funds

OGP grand challenge: 3) More Effectively Managing Public Resources

Consequences of little budget transparency

• Possible consequences: • Insufficient control of the

budget process • Inefficient and

inappropriate use of public funds

• Corruption and other procedural abuses

Effects of budget transparency

• Improve decision-making • Facilitate engagement of citizens and Parliament • Better allocation of public resources & better policy choices • Accountability • Restore trust of citizens, business and donors in state institutions • Macro-economic stability and economic development

Why budget transparency?

1) Publication of Budget reports

OECD Best Practices for Budget

Transparency (2002)

The budget Pre-budget report Monthly reports Mid-year report Year-end report Pre-election report Long-term report

2) Specific disclosures

Economic assumptions Tax expenditures Financial liabilities and

financial assets Non-financial assets Employee pension

obligations Contingent liabilities

Are the economic assumptions underlying the budget and the methodology used to establish them published/publicly available?

OECD Best Practices for Budget

Transparency (2002)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2012 2007

Publicly available Not publicly available

Note: Percentage of participating OECD countries (33 in 2012 and 33 in 2007).

3) Integrity, control and accountability

OECD Best Practices for Budget

Transparency (2002)

Accounting policies A summary of relevant accounting policies should accompany all reports

Systems and responsibility A dynamic system of internal financial controls, Each report should contain a statement of responsibility certifying that all

government decisions with a fiscal impact have been included in the report

Audit The year-end report audited by the Supreme Audit Institution

Audit reports scrutinised by Parliament

Public and parliamentary scrutiny Parliament has the opportunity and the resources to examine budget reports

All budget reports are freely available to the public via internet

The Finance Ministry promotes an understanding of the budget process by individual citizens and non-governmental organisations

OECD Draft Principles of Budgetary

Governance (2014)

Budgeting within fiscal

objectives

Quality, integrity &

independent audit

Comprehensive budget

accounting

Effective budget

execution

Alignment with medium-term strategic

plans and priorities

Performance, evaluation &

VFM

Transparency, openness & accessibility

Participative, Inclusive

& Realistic Debate

Fiscal Risks & Sustainability

Capital budgeting framework

Transparency and accessibility of the budget

Publication of all budget reports fully, promptly and routinely, and in a way that is accessible to citizens, in open data format

“citizen’s budget” or budget summary, in a standard and user-friendly format

the design and use of budget data for open government, integrity, programme evaluation and policy coordination

OECD Draft Principles of Budgetary

Governance (2014)

Evidence from

Government at a Glance

Countries with

citizen budget Countries

without citizen budget

inclusive, participative and realistic debate on budgetary choices

From access to information to engagement

Participation of Parliament ex ante as well as ex post

engagement of parliaments, citizens and civil society about key priorities, trade-offs, opportunity costs and value for money

OECD Draft Principles of Budgetary

Governance (2014)

Findings from the Open Government Review

Budget transparency in Tunisia

• Publication of the Executive Budget Proposal

• Enacted budget; Preparatory documents to budget; monthly reports; end-year report; audit report (effective internal and external control)

• Access to information law and Action Plan

Publication of budget

reports

• Convention for a joint commission on budget transparency

• Citizens budget 2014

• Marsad Budget (civil society initiative)

Civic engagement

• Revise calendar for the presentation of the Executive budget proposal and include non-financial performance data

• Build capacity of Parliament • Ensure that Parliament examines the documents

sent by the Audit Court

Role of Parliament

• Publish remaining budget documents (i.e. report preliminary to elections; long-term report)

• Include accounting policy; include declaration of responsibility

• Support re-use of budget data through open data

Publication of budget reports

Budget transparency in Tunisia

Recommendations of the Open Government Review

Budget transparency in Tunisia

Tunisia’s OGP Action Plan

Improvement of transparency in the financial field and in public procurement Publish missing budget reports in timely manner Development of open budget system Publication of data from budget management

system (ADEB)

Findings from the Open Government Review

Budget transparency in Morocco

• Publication of 6 of 8 essential budget reports (1 for internal use only)

• Publication of certain budget data in excel format (open format)

• Gender Impact Reports

Publication of budget

reports

• Guide on the Budget Law in Arabic

• Citizen Budget • Floussna.ma (civil society initiative)

Civic engagement

• Continuous reform, new Constitution and budget law reinforce transparency

• Reinforces role of parliament

New budget law

• Implement the new budget principles in adapting budget practices

New Budget Law

• Increase citizen participation in the budget process

• Reinforce role and capacity of Parliament Participation

• Improve budget data and publish it in open format

• Publish reports in timely manner

Publication of reports

Budget transparency in Morocco

Recommendations of the Open Government Review

For more information:

Katharina.zuegel@oecd.org

Thank you