1. Fiscal transparency: what does it mean today? IBP’s takeaways from the 2015 Open Budget Survey, and future work 12th Annual Meeting of CENTRAL, EASTERN & SOUTH-EASTERN SBO SESSION 7 Elena Mondo, June 29, 2016

2. Presentation Outline “Where are we coming from?” The Open Budget Survey (OBS): rationale and (brief) reference to its methodology Global trends and challenges in budget transparency General findings from the latest (2015) OBS results High level recommendations on how to strengthen fiscal transparency, given the 2015 OBS results IBP’s recent and future streams of work Research agenda, new OBS indicators, international and country- based advocacy 2

3. 3 Open Budget Survey 2015: THE BASICS Independent Comparable Biennial Based on international standards (IMF, OECD, IBP) Assesses three fundamental pillars of the budget accountability system : Transparency Participation Oversight 16 indicators on opportunities for public participation 109 indicators on transparency (the Open Budget Index) 15 indicators on the strength of the legislature and auditors

4. Open Budget Survey: RATIONALE and METHODOLOGY WHERE DOES THE OBS COME FROM? Historically, the public didn’t have access to key budget information Budget information is essential to hold governments accountable, through objective research/analysis The OBS is a civil society based assessment, responding to the question: “How much budget info do governments disclose to their citizens ?” ACCURACY AND CREDIBILITY ARE PARAMOUNT Conducted by an in-country independent CSO with PFM expertise Evidence-based Peer reviewed Consistency checks are performed by the IBP staff OBS ENCOURAGES DIALOGUE AND POSITIVE CHANGE Government reviews are sought during the research process Used for advocacy, at country, regional and international level 4

5. 5 Serious gaps in budget information o Average global score is 45 out of 100. 78 countries score 60 or less, meaning they provide insufficient information. o One-third of budget documents that should be publicly available are not. o When budget documents are published, they often lack important details Modest global progress, but few remarkable improvers o Global average OBI score increased from 43 to 46 between 2012 and 2015 o Biggest gains made by countries that are the least transparent Despite progress, enthusiasm should be tempered o Improvements have come from a low base. o Some countries have regressed (Afghanistan, Honduras, Nepal, Lebanon). o 12 countries have remained at the bottom of the OBI since they were first surveyed o Countries in the middle of the rankings do not seem to move very much o In many countries, there is considerable volatility in disclosure practices. OBS 2015: Global Findings on Transparency

6. 6 Most countries do not provide adequate opportunities for public participation o Average score is only 25 out of 100 o Only 7 countries adequately provide opportunities for public participation o However: pioneering countries have introduced innovative public participation mechanisms (Brazil, India, New Zealand, Philippines, South Korea, UK, US) Formal oversight is generally lacking o In more than half of the countries surveyed, legislatures lack access to independent research capacity o In one-third of countries, legislatures are not given enough time to review the budget proposal before it is passed o In the majority of countries, supreme audit institutions have weak or nonexistent quality assurance systems OBS 2015: Global findings on Participation and Oversight

7. OBS 2015 recap: Few countries perform adequately across all OBS pillars of budget accountability 0 out of 41 out of 42 out of 43 out of 44 out of 4 Afghanistan Algeria Azerbaijan Benin Bolivia Burkina Faso Cambodia Cameroon China Dem. Republic of Congo Egypt Equatorial Guinea Fiji Iraq Jordan Lebanon Liberia Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Papua New Guinea Qatar Rwanda São Tomé e Príncipe Saudi Arabia Sudan Tanzania Tunisia Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Albania Argentina Bangladesh Bosnia and Herzegovina Chad Croatia Dominican Republic Ecuador Ghana Guatemala Honduras Hungary India Kazakhstan Kenya Kyrgyz Republic Macedonia Malaysia Mali Namibia Nepal Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Pakistan Senegal Serbia Sierra Leone Slovakia Spain Sri Lanka Thailand Timor-Leste Turkey Venezuela Botswana Bulgaria Chile Colombia Costa Rica El Salvador Indonesia Malawi Mexico Mongolia Poland Romania Tajikistan Trinidad and Tobago Uganda Ukraine United Kingdom Vietnam Czech Republic France Georgia Germany Italy New Zealand Peru Philippines Portugal Russia Slovenia South Korea Sweden Brazil Norway South Africa United States 32 Countries35 Countries18 Countries13 Countries4 Countries NOTE: “Adequately” refers to scores above 60 on the three Budget Accountability Ecosystem Pillars: Transparency, Participation, and the two measures that comprise Oversight (Legislative strength and SAI strength). 8

8. OBS 2015: High level recommendations 1.Publication of the all 8 key budget documents. Russia and Kyrgyz Republic succeeded in publishing all of them in a timely manner, so any country can do it. 2.Increasing the comprehensiveness of budget documents. Publishing documents is a crucial first step to increase transparency, but the information included therein must be sufficiently detailed to allow users to understand, analyze, discuss, ask questions, and increase awareness, dialogue and trust. 3.Peer learning on: o Production and publication of documents (process, timeline and timing) o Mechanisms and legislation for public participation o Interaction with the oversight institutions (SAI and Legislature) 4.Consultation with civil society as to what type of public participation they think could be useful in the country. Mechanisms can and should be adapted from other countries, but there are a number of options to choose from, so it’s important to identify the most appropriate ones. 8

9. IBP’s key takeaways from the 2015 OBS How to improve countries that are “stuck” in the middle of the OBI? Initial research has been done (“Countries in the Middle of the Open Budget Index: Finding the Road to 61”); further investigations under way How to ensure sustainability? Volatility in transparency is a serious issue. Further research should/will be done about it, in particular on incentives and institutionalizing progress International consensus on public participation is being built. But we need: more and better data collection; country examples and case studies; indicators better aligned with international principles It’s not just about fiscal transparency! One needs to look at the entire accountability system: fiscal transparency, public participation, and oversigh (by formal institutions and citizens) 9

10. What’s next for IBP? Open Budget Survey 2017  Refine indicators on participation and oversight  Expand coverage  Integrate the Survey with the OBS Tracker for more frequent updates on documents’ public availability  Engage with governments for draft review Further Research  Make the most of OBS data collected so far  Further studies on volatility & middle-rank OBI countries  “Budgets for what?” Ideas on how to reframe the PFM debate International and country-level advocacy  Open Government Partnership’s national action plans  Regional events  Support the GIFT network 10

11. For more information, please contact: emondo@internationalbudget.org info@internationalbudget.org And visit: www.internationalbudget.org http://survey.internationalbudget.org/ Thank you! 11