Egypts budget improves; independent fiscal institution recommended: IBP

Egypt came in the 61^st place among 117 countries, moving up from its 65^th position in 2017.

The country scored 43 out of 100 in transparency, according to OBS 2019 report. The country followed Jordan which scored 61.

The OBS’ transparency index measures public access to information on how the central government raises and spends public resources. This evaluation is based on online availability, timeliness, and comprehensiveness of eight key budget documents.

Egypt meanwhile scored 15 out of 100 in public participation, coming in the second place as well after Tunisia which scored 17.

Public participation measures the formal opportunities offered to the public for meaningful participation in the different stages of the budget process. OBS evaluates this index based on the practices of the central government’s executive, the legislature, and the supreme audit institution (SAI).

As for OBS’ budget oversight, Egypt scored 50 out of 100. This is measured based on 18 equally weighted indicators upon the role played by legislatures and supreme audit institutions (SAIs) in the budget process and the extent to which they provide oversight.

OBS collects supplementary information on independent fiscal institutions. It highlighted that the legislature and supreme audit institution in Egypt, together, provided limited oversight during the budget process.

IBP referred to the importance of having an independent fiscal institution (IFI) in Egypt. It explained that IFIs are becoming valuable independent and nonpartisan information providers to the Executive and/or Parliament during the state budget process.

It is noteworthy to mention that on April 12^th, the cabinet said that Fitch Solutions and the World Bank (WB) are among international institutions expecting Egypt to top regional economic growth rates in 2020.