World Bank: Georgia has improved public financial management

World Bank said Georgia had placed first when compared with 59 states that had “conducted their assessments based on the 2016 PEFA methodology”. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge

Agenda.ge, 20 Apr 2023 - 17:15, Tbilisi,Georgia

Georgian authorities have improved the country’s public financial management systems, the World Bank said on Thursday in its 2022 Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability assessment, which compared improvements to the institution’s 2018 report. 

It said Georgia had placed first when compared with 59 states that had “conducted their assessments based on the 2016 PEFA methodology”.

The 2021 Open Budget Survey, conducted by the International Budget Partnership, also ranked Georgia first amongst 120 countries in budget transparency or the Open Budget Index, the Bank noted.

The PEFA assessments were undertaken by the European Union and the World Bank at the request of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia between August-November of 2022, and covered 18 local governments across the country.

An analysis of the PEFA Municipality Synthesis Report also showed that progress had been made in:

  • Transparency of public finances
  • Management of assets and liabilities
  • Policy-based fiscal strategy and budgeting
  • Predictability and control in budget execution
  • Accounting and reporting

In the first point, the report said public consultations on budgets required improvements, with other areas where progress is needed including submissions of annual financial reports for audit, scrutiny and budget reliability.

The findings said the Government’s expenditure at sub-national level was over five percent of the gross domestic product and accounted for almost a fifth of the consolidated Government expenditures in 2022. 

Full assessments have been released for Tbilisi, Batumi and Martvili.