Open Budget Survey_en

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 115 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. 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.

Open Budget Survey 2019

The global average in terms of budget transparency was centered on the value of 45 points. Portugal remains outside the group leaders, but maintains the score from the previous edition with 66 points, allowing it to be qualified as a country that probably publishes enough material to allow a well-informed public debate on the budget. Overall, Portugal is ranked as the 23rd country in the world with the best Budget Transparency Index. In addition to the score, the recommendations also remain the same: produce a mid-year review report and publish the Citizens Budget in a timely manner.

However, as evidenced by the International Budget Partnership (IBP) team, transparency on its own is not enough to improve governance: public participation is crucial. Budgetary opening creates an opportunity for civil society to participate in the areas that most affect them, resulting in greater democratic involvement. Despite the “insufficient” score reached globally (14 points), this domain reached its highest value in this edition. The same happened in Portugal, where formal opportunities for public participation in the different stages of the budget process reached 26 points (having stood at 15 points in the last edition), which still reflects a very significant gap between access to budget documents and its public discussion. Positively, the creation of the Participatory Budget Portugal stands out.

In this area, the recommendations cover the different stages of the budgetary process (formulation, approval, execution and audit), which include both the executive (Ministry of Finance), the legislative (Assembly of the Republic) and the supervisory (Court of Auditors) ). Examples include: expanding the scope and available resources of the Participatory Budget Portugal; actively promote the participation of vulnerable and underrepresented communities; and establish formal mechanisms for the public to collaborate in the development of audit programs.

In the field of budgetary oversight, OBS examines the formal role of the supervisory bodies in terms of their ability to keep the budgetary process transparent, ensuring its implementation in accordance with the established objectives. Only 30 of the 117 countries analyzed achieved a score considered adequate (61 points), with Portugal being one of those countries (with 72 points). Thus, it is considered that the Portuguese Parliament and the Court of Auditors, together, perform an adequate inspection during the budgetary procedure. Nevertheless, it is noted that the Court of Auditors does not ensure that its audit processes are reviewed by an independent body.