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Jordan ranks first among Arab countries in open budget index

By JT - May 15,2016 - Last updated at May 15,2016

AMMAN — Jordan scored 55 out of 100 in the 2015 Open Budget Index (OBI), according to the results of the International Budget Partnership organisation (IBP) Open Budget Survey.

The OBI assigns a score to each country based on the information it makes available to the public throughout the budget process.

Jordan's score was 10 per cent higher than the average figure of the index which covered 102 countries, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Sunday.

The Kingdom ranked first among Arab countries, followed by Tunisia, Morocco and Yemen which scored 42, 38 and 34 respectively, Petra added.  

The country's 2015 OBI is very much as its 2012 result, when it scored two notches higher, according to the survey results carried on the IBP website.

In terms of budget transparency, the survey's results said the government provides the public with "limited" budget information.  

With regard to public participation, the survey said the government is "weak" in providing the public with opportunities to engage in the budget process.

In its recommendations, the survey said Jordan should prioritise the following actions to improve budget transparency.

These include producing and publishing a mid-year budget review and increasing the comprehensiveness of the executive budget proposal by, for example, presenting more details on macro-economic forecasts and on issues beyond the core budget.

It also suggested increasing the comprehensiveness of the end of year report by, for example, presenting more details on planned versus actual performance.

To improve budget participation, it recommended establishing credible and effective mechanisms such as public hearings, surveys and focus groups to capture a range of public perspectives on budget matters.

As for improving oversight, the IBP survey said the country should try to ensure that the executive’s budget proposal is provided to legislators at least three months before the start of the budget year.

In general, the IBP Open Budget Survey 2015 revealed that the vast majority of people live in countries that have inadequate systems for ensuring accountable budgets. 

Most countries surveyed provide insufficient information for civil society and the public to understand or monitor budgets, and only a small fraction of countries have appropriate mechanisms for the public to ensure their participation in budget processes. 

Formal oversight institutions also frequently face limitations in performing their function of holding governments to account, according to the survey findings.

Through its survey, the IBP seeks to promote public access to budget information and the adoption of accountable budget systems, as it believes that government budgets are at the core of development.  

 

The International Budget Partnership collaborates with civil society around the world to use budget analysis and advocacy as a tool to improve effective governance and reduce poverty.

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