Georgian Finance Minister: Georgia “proud” to be ranked 1st in world for budget transparency
Published by the International Budget Partnership on Tuesday, the Open Budget Survey 2021 ranked Georgia top on budget transparency, with the country's score rising by more than 30 points since 2008. Photo: Finance Ministry
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Georgia is proud to be the top-ranked country on budget transparency internationally, Georgian Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili said on Tuesday at the presentation of the Results of the 2021 Open Budget Survey organised by the International Budget Partnership.
The Georgian Ministry of Finance said Khutsishvili had thanked international partners for recognising the progress made by Georgia, and noted the result was achieved despite the limitations associated with the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Georgian Minister said his Government had implemented “serious reforms” in the field of public finance management, as well as fiscal risk management, public sector capital management and local market development. He also highlighted involvement of Georgian citizens in the budget process, which he said remained one of the challenges in “many countries” around the world.
Published by the International Budget Partnership on Tuesday, the Open Budget Survey 2021 ranked Georgia top on budget transparency, with the country's score rising by more than 30 points since 2008.
In 2020, as pandemic-strained governments struggled to operate effectively, Georgia led the world in budget transparency practices, scoring 87 out of 100 in OBS 2021. This is an increase of six points from OBS 2019, reflecting the Ministry of Finance’s work to continue publishing timely and comprehensive budget documents,” the index said.
Georgia is now the highest ranked country on budget transparency in Open Budget Survey 2021 published by the International Budget Partnership on Tuesday.
Georgia has ranked 91st of 165 countries in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index 2020.
The Open Budget Survey 2019 by the International Budget Partnership ranks Georgia 5th in the world out of 81 scores out of 100, based on an analysis of 117 nations’ budget transparency scorings, participation and oversight.
Georgia’s economic freedom score is 75.9, making its economy the 16th freest in the 2019 Index of Economic Freedom by the Heritage Foundation.
Georgia’s bid for European Union membership is not a “whim of the Government” or a “cynical exploitation” of a growing European sympathy toward Ukraine amid the Russian invasion of the country, Nikoloz Samkaharadze, the Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Georgian Parliament and Deputy Chair Giorgi Khelashvili said on Thursday.
The Embassy of Germany in Tbilisi has praised Georgia's advancement to the leading spot in the International Budget Partnership’s latest Open Budget Survey as an "impressive achievement", as the country was named the global leader in budget transparency.
Georgia has been ranked first among 59 countries for the "continuous improvement" of performance in Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability Assessment, an index compiled by the World Bank, the Ministry of Finance of Georgia announced on Wednesday.
Georgia’s ranking in the European Research Centre for Anti Corruption’s latest Government Transparency index has jumped from 54th to 17th, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili told the Parliament on Friday.
Georgian Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili on Wednesday said the country was taking “advanced positions” in the World Bank’s Worldwide Governance Indicators measuring the quality of governance.