THE Philippines ranked first in Southeast Asia for budget transparency but remained second to Georgia for the whole Asia.
According to the 2019 Open Budget Survey (OBS) results released on April 29, the country received an Open Budget Index (OBI) score of 76, maintaining the top position as the most fiscally transparent country in Southeast Asia and ranked 10th place worldwide even if it had the same OBI score for budget transparency with United States and Peru.
This is also the first time that the Philippines made it to the top 10 out of 117 countries survey worldwide by the International Budget Partnership, a substantial jump from its 19th spot in the previous OBS.
However, the Philippines is still second place for budget transparency for the whole Asia next to Georgia, which got an OBI score of 81. Georgia once again placed fifth worldwide, with the same OBI score as Brazil.
Meanwhile, the Philippines’s 2019 OBI score was nine notches higher from 67 in 2017.
Despite getting the same OBI score for budget transparency as the United States and Peru did, the Philippines ranked 10th worldwide because it seems the US is higher than the Philippines in terms of absolute points but the country placed higher than Peru, Undersecretary Laura Pascua of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) explained to BusinessMirror.
Nonetheless, the DBM pointed out that the country even exceeded the 2019 and 2021 OBI target scores of 67 and 71, respectively, under the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022.
A transparency score of 61 and above implies comprehensive, timely and online publication of all eight key budget documents, including the Mid-Year Review, a feat achieved twice by the country since the onset of the OBS.
The Philippines’ OBI score is also notably higher than the global average score of 45, as well as that of other Asian countries such as Indonesia (70), Japan (62), South Korea (62), and Thailand (61).
The OBS is a global biennial survey conducted by the IBP which assesses transparency based on the amount and timeliness of information governments make available to the public in eight key budget documents such as the pre-budget statement, executive’s budget proposal, enacted budget and citizen’s budget, among others.
For the 2019 round, 7 out of 8 budget documents improved in score, signifying more comprehensive and high-quality budget information that helps support public debate on the national budget.
Aside from transparency, the OBS likewise evaluates public participation in the budget process and budget oversight.
For public participation, the country achieved the sixth highest score worldwide — 31 out of 100 — and is way above the global average score of 14. This implies that the country should increase opportunities for meaningful and inclusive public engagement in the different stages of the budget process.
Lastly, budget oversight remained strong in the Philippines with a composite oversight score of 74 (out of 100), which implies adequate oversight by the Congress and the Commission on Audit during the budget process.
“We are pleased with the results of the OBS and we are very thankful to everyone who exerted extra effort in the process. May we continue finding value in transparency in our work,” DBM Secretary Wendel E. Avisado said.
Moving forward, the DBM plans to create an Inter-Agency Task Force on Fiscal Openness for effective and efficient interagency coordination on fiscal matters to further improve fiscal transparency and the country’s OBI score.
New Zealand and South Africa secured the top spots for budget transparency under the 2019 OBI as it both got a score of 87 out of 100. Sweden came next with an OBI score of 86 out of 100, followed by Mexico (82), Georgia (81), Brazil (81), Norway (80), Australia (79), United States (76) and Peru (76).
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