REUTERS
The Open Budget Index (OBI), which ranks countries according to their budget openness, is calculated every two years.
Representative of Centre for Political Studies and Analytics Eidos NGO, International Budget Partnership (IBP) expert in Ukraine Volodymyr Tarnay says Ukraine ranked 26th among 117 countries in the 2019 ranking compiled in accordance with the criteria of the International Budget Partnership's Open Budget Survey, having climbed by 13 positions from 2017.
The Open Budget Index (OBI), which ranks countries according to their budget openness, is calculated every two years. The average level of budget openness in the world is 45 out of 100 points, he said at a press conference arranged by UNIAN on April 30.
"The index has been calculated since 2008. Over the 12 years, we can state that budget openness has grown by about 20% worldwide, and this trend continues. In 2019, Ukraine was able to rise from the 39th place to the 26th position in the world, with 63 points. We crossed the threshold, which shows that the country publishes enough information to hold public debates on the use of budget funds," he said.
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The expert noted that in the ranking, Ukraine surpassed such countries as Japan and South Korea, while taking a position in the East European region comparable to Poland and Slovakia (60 points each).
According to Tarnay, Ukraine improved its position in the ranking due to increased availability of budget information through the publication of presentations of simplified versions of key budget documents for the media and the public, as well as a more informative bill on Ukraine's national budget. In particular, it provides an analysis related to the dynamics of revenue and spending in comparison with previous budgets and through publication of passports of budget programs, as well as an improvement in Accounting Chamber conclusions.
"The problem for Ukraine is a large number of amendments to the national budget and a 'package' change to other laws due to amendments to the national budget. There are also shortcomings. There is a need to publish more information on the analysis of budget-based scenarios, as well as giving more details about government guarantees. There is also insufficient coverage of the link between the proposed expenditures and the expected results," he added.
Chairman of the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine Valeriy Patskan, in turn, said that such a component of the ranking as the oversight of the Accounting Chamber over the budget procedure is estimated at 83 points. The score significantly exceeds Ukraine's total score in 2017 (78 points), which indicates that the Accounting Chamber provides sufficient budgetary oversight.
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"The better rating became possible due to the fact that experts of the National Audit Office of the United Kingdom conducted an external evaluation of the Audit Chamber in 2018, for the first time in 22 years of the latter's activity. This helped us to understand what changes are needed to improve the quality of the Chamber's operation. Based on the results of the functional evaluation, a five-year strategy for the development of the Accounting Chamber has been elaborated and approved," he said.
Patskan also stressed that 60-65% of the Accounting Chamber's recommendations are implemented by auditees on the average.
"Recommendations of the Accounting Chamber are fulfilled by 60%-65%. If they were implemented more, we would have a different picture, and Ukraine would have taken a different position in the ranking," he added.
In turn, former Ukrainian Finance Minister Oksana Markarova has said Ukraine has one of the key benefits, namely the law on transparent use of public funds. This is a tool that allows Ukrainians to track the movement and volume of funds from the national and local budgets online, on the spending.gov.ua portal. This also allowed the country to improve its position in the ranking.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukraine ranked 39th among 115 countries in the 2017 International Budget Partnership's Open Budget Survey ranking.
UNIAN memo. The Open Budget Index is the only budget transparency ranking in the world that analyzes the budgets of 117 countries by a single methodology and is compiled by independent experts every two years. The methodology includes an evaluation of 109 indicators in eight key documents and covers the activities of Parliaments, Treasuries, Finance Ministries, and Accounting Chambers throughout the budget procedures.