International Budget Partnership published a report. According to the results of the 2021 Open Budget Survey, Georgia ranked first among 120 countries in the world.
As of the report, Georgia is now the highest ranked country on transparency in this year’s survey, and its score has risen by more than 30 points since 2008.
The document reads that in 2020, as pandemic-strained governments struggled to operate effectively, Georgia led the world in budget transparency practices, scoring 87 out of 100 in OBS 2021 (Open Budget Survey). This is an increase of six points from OBS 2019, reflecting the Ministry of Finance’s work to continue publishing timely and comprehensive budget documents.
Georgia’s solid budget practices withstood the challenges posed by the pandemic largely because of the work it has been doing to improve its Financial Management Information System (FMIS), a cornerstone of its strong transparency systems. Since 2010, the government expanded the FMIS to include detailed activity costs, performance indicators, modeling capabilities and tagging for programs related to climate and gender. The FMIS also now integrates budget transactions, information from line ministries and municipalities, procurement, debt and treasury functions. As a result, the government was well positioned to operate online when pandemic restrictions forced officials to work remotely.
Regular coordination has also bolstered the country’s budgetary system. Every quarter, the Public Financial Management (PFM) Council brings together state agencies, members of civil society and international partners to shape strategy and identify gaps. Moreover, international tools like Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) evaluations and the OBS have provided a roadmap for reform. The ministry, for example, prepared its PFM strategy for 2018-2021 based on results from its most recent PEFA assessment and OBS results. Over the years, the process of validating five PEFA assessments alongside technical training by officials from the IMF and the European Union have helped pave the way for Georgia to produce budget documents in line with international standards. During this round of the survey, Georgia augmented its previous transparency practices by making its Mid-Year Review more robust with updated full-year macroeconomic and revenue forecasts.
This Mid-Year Review upgrade stemmed from substantial amendments, including new forward-looking estimates, for its national budget. While challenges remain - mechanisms for public participation in the central budget process remain underutilized, for instance - the latest improvements demonstrate that budget accountability in Georgia is not just a temporary endeavor, but an ongoing commitment to embedding good budgeting practices over time that are capable of weathering challenges and crises.
The survey was first published in 2006 and Georgia ranked on the 30th place with 34 points among the least transparent countries. In the results of further studies, the scores and positions were gradually improved and Georgia was among the countries with limited transparency in the 2008, 2010 and 2012 surveys.
According to the 2015 survey, the country moved to the rank of significantly more transparent countries for the first time and with 66 points, ranked 16th among 109 countries in the world, and in 2017 and 2019 ranked 5th in the group of fully transparent countries.
