Tag: Open Budget Office

Dominican Republic reaches 12th place out of 117 countries in world ranking that measures budget transparency

Santo Domingo – The Dominican Republic ranked twelfth out of 117 countries in budget transparency, according to the Public Budget Survey (EPA2019), conducted by the Open Budget Office (IBP). The country ranked fourth in Latin America and the Caribbean. The IBP survey is the only evaluation carried out by a private entity, with independent experts, taking into account 149 aspects related to transparency in budget planning, formulation, execution, and control, as well as citizen participation, according to a press release from the Communications Department of the General Directorate of Budget (DIGEPRES). The international organization's publication highlights that the Dominican Republic's Open Budget Index score increased from 66 in 2017 to 75 in 2019, as a result of greater availability of budget information, the publication of progress reports on macroeconomic and fiscal projections, and the comprehensiveness of documents published by the General Directorate of Budget. Over the past eight years, the country has climbed 59 places in the global ranking, moving from the category of countries offering minimal budget information to those providing substantial budget information, according to the Open Budget Index reports for those years. The Open Budget Index positively assessed the opportunities for citizens to stay informed about the different stages of the budget process. In this component, the country ranked tenth out of the 117 countries evaluated and third in the Latin America and Caribbean region.