Open Budget Survey

The Open Budget Survey (OBS) is the only global indicator to measure and compare transparency, public participation, and oversight of the budget process internationally. This study, led by the International Budget Partnership (a Washington think tank) every two years, is conducted in a decentralized manner, with a team responsible for analyzing the national situation in each of the 117 countries participating in this initiative. In Portugal, the partner of this project is the Institute of Public Policy since the 2015 edition.

The conclusions of the OBS are the result of an objective and rigorous survey consisting of 145 research questions assessing three key areas: transparency, participation and oversight. To each country is assigned a score of 0 to 100 in these domains (which determines its ranking in the Open Budget Index), based on the analysis of the publicly available budget documentation.

There are eight budget key documents analyzed: Pre-Budget Statement, Executive Budget Proposal, Enacted Budget, Citizens Budget, In-year Report, Mid-year review, Year-end Report, and Audit Report.