Rabat – Morocco’s budget system was the second most transparent among Arab countries in the past year, following Jordan, according to a recent report by the non-profit International Budget Partnership.
Morocco scored 48 points out of 100 in budget transparency metrics, making it 32nd worldwide and second in the Arab world in terms of transparent budgeting, notes the report.
Called the “Open Budget Survey,” the report compiles data on the ease of accessing budget information for ordinary citizens.
Despite its advanced regional ranking, Morocco’s budget transparency score falls in the category of countries with “limited information available.”
While pointing out that the level of budget transparency remains overall insufficient worldwide, the report underscores the notable contribution of a handful of countries, including Morocco, in terms of the financial impact of policies on different societal segments.
Highlighting the Moroccan government’s policies in support of women, the report notes that Morocco is among 14 countries worldwide with publicly-accessible records on gender-related expenditures.
A country’s transparency score within the index depends largely on two dimensions: The type of information a government includes in public domain articles and which budget documents the government chooses to make public.
The report notes that keeping the public updated on budget issues is essential to allow the public to access “meaningful” and “actionable” budget decisions
The 2021 Open Budget Survey found that the global budget transparency has overall increased “modestly” by one point for the 117 countries the survey covers.
According to the report, transparency practices are efficient and adequate when a country reaches a minimum score of 61. The score would reflect that a government is providing enough information to engage the public in the policymaking process.
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