Nepal ranks 45 in Open Budget Survey

Nepal ranks at 45th position in Open Budget Survey (OBI) among 94 countries‚ surveyed in 2010.
“Nepal’s ranking is slightly higher than the average score of 42 but lower than several other South Asian countries in the survey including Bangladesh (48)‚ India (67) and Sri Lanka (67)‚” said Taranath Dahal‚ chairperson of the Freedom Forum that was the local partner of the survey. In the South Asian region‚ Afghanistan is at 21st and Pakistan at 38th positions.
“Nepal’s score indicates that the government provides the public with some information on the budget and financial activities‚” he said‚ adding that it makes challenging for citizens to hold the government accountable for its management of the public’s money.
The government provides with some‚ albeit incomplete‚ information to the public in its budget documents‚ according to him‚ who surveyed with a structured 92 questions from the Open Budget Survey 2010. “The result also indicates the country’s relative transparency in the whole budget preparation and information dissemination process‚” Dahal said.
The International Budget Partnership’s Open Budget Survey assesses the availability in each country assessed of eight key budget documents‚ as well as the comprehensiveness of the data contained in these documents. Grades for the comprehensiveness and accessibility of the information provided in each document are calculated from the average scores received on a subset of questions from the OBS.
“Nepal falls in the C-category‚” he said‚ adding that the country could have scored more had the budget come on time last year. The country scored nil in three indicators — pre-budget statement‚ enacted budget‚ and citizens budget — out of the eight indicators.
“Overall‚ Nepal’s ranking is not bad‚” said Bodh Raj Niraoula‚ chief of the Budget Department at the Finance Ministry.
Beyond improving the availability and comprehensiveness of key budget documents‚ there are other ways in which Nepal’s budget process can be made more open‚ said the report. “These include ensuring the existence of a strong legislature and supreme audit institutions that provide effective budget oversight‚ and providing greater opportunities for public engagement in the budget process.”
The Survey has recommended Nepal to publish the Enacted Budget‚ produce and publish a Citizens Budget and Pre-Budget Statement‚ improve the comprehensiveness of the Executive’s Budget Proposal‚ provide opportunities for the public to testify at legislative hearings on the budget‚ empower SAIs to publish comprehensive Audit Reports‚ including reports on extra‚ and budgetary funds.

Methodology

KATHMANDU: An average score between 0-20 is considered scant information and graded as E; 21-41‚ minimal information‚ graded as D; 41-60‚ some‚ graded as C; 61-80‚ significant‚ graded as B and 81-100‚ extensive‚ graded as A‚ under which South Africa‚ New Zealand‚ United Kingdom‚ France‚ Norway‚ Sweden and United States fall.