The Open Budget Survey 2012 released by International Budget Partnership has analyzed eight different indicators to measure the transparency level in budget document and participation of public in budget formulation.[break]
The report has used Pre-Budget Statement (PBS), Executive Budget Proposal (EBP), Enacted Budget (EB), Citizen Budget (CB), In-Year Report (IYR), Mid-Year Review (MYR), Year End Report (YER) and Audit Report (AR) to determine the scale of budget transparency in different countries.
“Nepal maintained zero transparency in PBS -- the details of government policies in budget -- and CB - non-technical presentation of government plans to raise public revenue -- in 2012,” said Tara Nath Dahal, the lead researcher for Nepal for the Open Budget Survey 2012.
However, the biennial report acknowledges that Nepal has been circulating documents like EBP -- the government plans to raise revenue through taxes and other sources, and EB - the legal instrument that authorizes the government to raise revenue - to general public.
Similarly, the report shows documents like IYR -- periodic details of public revenue and expenditures, MYR -- mid-term overview of budget effects, YER -- actual income and expenditure details, and AR -- the audit reports of government offices - are also made available to the public.
The report has assessed whether the government in each country surveyed makes eight key budget documents available to the public as well as whether data contained in these documents is comprehensive, timely and useful.
Washington-based International Budget Partnership, the publisher of the report, has recommended that the Nepal produce and publish PBS and CB documents, increase the comprehensiveness of the EB proposals and IYR by conducting actual year-to-date expenditure and revenues.
The report further recommends that the government hold consultations with a range of legislators as part of its process of determining budget priorities.
In its initial reports, the International Budget Partnership had placed Nepal at the lowest position among South Asian nations in term of transparency of budget related documents.
The report states that Nepal´s score on global budget transparency fell by a notch in 2012 amid increasing difficulty to get details about government´s budget related documents.
Nepal secured a score of 44 out of a total of 100 in global budget transparency in 2012, down from 45 recorded in 2010. Nepal´s position in the budget transparency is the worst among South Asian nation. The report says Sri Lanka secured 46, Pakistan and Bangladesh each got 58, and Afghanistan received 59 and India scored 68 points.
Worsening state of budget transparency shows that Nepal has failed to provide sufficient information to the public about its development plans, government policies and other information incorporated in the budget.
“Nepal´s position will not improve unless the government ensures public participation in budget formulation process and increase availability of budget related documents to the public,” said Dahal.
Related story
IBP Survey ranks Nepal 65th in terms of budget transparency, ac...
