Egypt advances 6 positions in global budget transparency survey

Egypt has made significant strides in global budget transparency and public participation, advancing 6 positions to rank 63rd out of 125 nations, according to the International Budget Partnership (IBP) 2023 Open Budget Survey.

Financial Transparency and Data Availability Improvement

Additionally, Egypt improved its financial transparency and data availability score to 49 points, surpassing the global average of 47 points.

The IBP commended Egypt’s progress, attributing it to nine years of dedicated efforts by the Ministry of Finance to enhance transparency and financial disclosure frameworks. The Ministry’s Transparency & Citizen Engagement Unit has enriched reports with detailed information on the medium-term budget framework, debt status, financing sources, and interest payments.

Significant Increase in Public Participation Score

The survey also highlighted that Egypt’s public participation score increased significantly to 35 out of 100, up from 19 out of 100 in 2021. This improvement has elevated Egypt to eighth place globally and first in the Middle East for the second consecutive year.

Notably, the national participatory budgeting model, which has expanded to Asyut and Beni Suef following its success in Alexandria and Fayoum, was featured as a case study in the global report.

Commitment to Sustaining Progress

The report defines Budget Transparency as detailing how government resources are collected and spent, while Public Participation allows citizens to influence spending priorities. Anna Patricia, Executive Director of IBP, emphasised that “budgets reflect national priorities, and improved transparency and oversight contribute to a better investment environment.”

To sustain this progress, the Ministry of Finance has stressed the importance of publishing reports on schedule, presenting public expenditures by functional classification, updating debt component information in monthly financial reports, making performance-based budgets available to the public, and enhancing data comprehensiveness in semi-annual reports on economic and financial performance.

 

Attribution: Egyptian Cabinet report, Open Budget Survey

Subediting: M. S. Salama