The International Budget Partnership (IBP) issued the 2023 Open Budget Survey (OBS) global report. The report involved the participation of the Governance Center for Public Policies (GCPP) in Iraq. It included 125 countries in the world and showed that Iraq ranked 113 globally out of a total of 125 In terms of budget transparency, Iraq received a score of (0) out of 100 in the public participation survey, a score of (8) out of 100 in the budget transparency survey, and a score of (46) out of 100 in the budget oversight survey. Iraq ranked eighth out of 11 Arab countries included in the transparency survey. Jordan ranked first in the Arab world on the degree of transparency in the Open Budget Survey.
The Open Budget Survey is the world’s first independent, comparative, fact-based research tool for measuring key aspects of governance and accountability. It was launched in 2006, and the ninth edition of the OBS 2023 covers 125 countries.
The public participation part of the OBS assesses the formal opportunities offered to the public for meaningful participation in the different stages of the budget process. It examines the practices of the central government’s executive, the legislature, and the supreme audit institution (SAI) using 18 equally weighted indicators, aligned with the Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency’s Principles of Public Participation in Fiscal Policies , and scores each country on a scale from 0 to 100.
The budget oversight part of the OBS examines the role that legislatures and supreme audit institutions (SAIs) play in the budget process and the extent to which they provide oversight; each country is scored on a scale from 0 to 100 based on 18 equally weighted indicators. In addition, the survey collects supplementary information on independent fiscal institutions.
The transparency part of the OBS measures public access to information on how the central government raises and spends public resources. It assesses the online availability, timeliness, and comprehensiveness of eight key budget documents using 109 equally weighted indicators and scores each country on a scale of 0 to 100. A transparency score of 61 or above indicates a country is likely publishing enough material to support informed public debate on the budget.
Read the Open Budget Survey 2023 Iraq report below
