Moldova has significantly improved its position in the world rankings of budget transparency. The budget transparency score of the Republic of Moldova increased from 65 points in 2021 to 81 points in 2023 out of a total of 100. This means that the citizens have greater access to the information necessary to get involved in the decision-making process, as well as to make the Government responsible, IPN reports, with reference to a press release of the Independent Think Tank Expert-Grup regarding the Open Budget Survey, which included 125 countries in the recent edition.
The result indicates an improvement in the citizen’s access to budget documents and places the Republic of Moldova on the 5th place out of 125 countries that were included in the survey, registering one of the best results. Moldova exceeds the global average of 45 points by 35 points. The score is close to the results obtained by such countries as Bulgaria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania and the Czech Republic.
As for legislative and audit oversight, Moldova scored 61 points out of 100, the global average being 53 points. International data show an upward trend, compared to the 2021 survey, in which the global average was 52 points.
In terms of public participation, Moldova is on an upward trend compared to the survey two years ago, from 11 points in 2021 to 18 points in 2023. This is by 15 points above the global average. This means that the government managed to increase citizens' involvement in the budget process. Moldova’s score is close to the scores obtained by Poland, Ukraine and Slovakia.
“This external analysis allows us to identify our weaknesses and strengths, helping us to make the budget process transparent and provide information as accessible as possible to citizens. We will look at the extent at which our initiatives in 2022-2023 were effective and delivered the expected results. Through each budget cycle, we improve the mechanism itself and anticipate the implementation of the suggestions received as a result of this survey,” Minister of Finance Petru Rotaru said at a conference.
For her part, IMF Resident Representative in Moldova Svetlana Cerovic said that this survey is a useful tool to regularly assess the quality of information open to society, as well as its relevance. “The Open Budget Survey is also important for the IMF as it serves as a plenary purpose to engage and influence policy and public finance management decisions, and increases the accountability of state authorities in the management of public money, which essentially leads to enhanced confidence in the entire system and budget transparency,” stated the official.
The source noted that the 9th edition of the Open Budget Survey included 125 countries. The Republic of Moldova has officially participated in the Open Budget Survey since 2017. Only published documents and events, activities, or developments that occurred by December 31, 2022 were evaluated in the 2023 survey. It is based on a questionnaire completed in each country by an independent budget expert. To further underpin the research, each country’s draft questionnaire is also reviewed by an anonymous independent expert, while in Moldova by a representative of the Ministry of Finance.
