The Department of State of the United States of America (USA) recently released its newest ‘Fiscal Transparency Report 2024’, which contains annual reviews of the fiscal transparency of governments eligible to receive US assistance, guaranteeing the appropriate use of US taxpayers’ funds.
Fiscal transparency is a critical element of effective public financial management, helps build market confidence and underpins global economic sustainability. It promotes greater government accountability by providing a window into budgets and spending, as well as helping citizens hold their elected leaders and public officials accountable and facilitating better-informed public debate.
The document concluded that of 139 countries (and the Palestinian Authority) assessed, 72 governments met the minimum requirements for fiscal transparency and 68 did not meet the requirements.
The US described that although some progress has been made, Mozambique has not met the internationally required minimum fiscal transparency requirements for 2024.
The US experts wrote that ‘although the budget documents provide a complete picture of the government’s planned expenditures and revenues, they were not prepared in accordance with internationally accepted principles (they did not stratify expenditures), nor did they include all the allocations and earnings of state-owned companies,’ they said.
Progress signalled by Mozambique in 2024
According to the document, the Mozambican government has made significant progress by eliminating off-budget accounts and subjecting them to proper auditing and supervision, by providing a solid legal framework for the new Sovereign Fund, by publishing the proposed State Budget within a reasonable timeframe,’ the US experts described.
The report explained that information on debt obligations, including large debts of state-owned enterprises, was publicly available and the information was generally considered reliable; the supreme audit institution met international standards of independence; the government made public basic information on natural resource extraction concessions and appeared to follow all contract and licence procedures.
Although the budget documents provided a complete picture of the government’s planned expenditure and income, they were not prepared according to internationally accepted principles (they did not stratify expenditure), nor did they include all the allocations and earnings of state-owned companies.
Recommendations for improving the index in Mozambique
The research advised the country to ensure that budget documents include detailed information on allocations and profits of state-owned enterprises; that all expenditure to support executive offices is published; to safeguard that actual income and expenditure reasonably correspond to those in the approved budget; to subject military and/or intelligence budgets to public parliamentary, or civilian, oversight; and to prepare budget documents in accordance with internationally accepted principles.
Meet the African countries that failed to fulfil the fiscal transparency requirements
The other African countries assessed that did not fulfil the minimum fiscal transparency requirements for 2024 are: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, DRCongo, Congo, Republic of Djibouti, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone; Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
These are the African countries that met the minimum requirements
The Department assessed the following governments as meeting the minimum fiscal transparency requirements for 2024: Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Seychelles, South Africa, Togo, Tunisia and Uganda.
The other countries assessed as not meeting the minimum fiscal transparency requirements for 2024 are: Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belize, Benin, Burma, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, Iraq, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Niger, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Authority, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Suriname, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The Department assessed the following governments as meeting the minimum fiscal transparency requirements for 2024: Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Bahamas, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Fiji, Georgia, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kyrgyz Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia (Federated States of), Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Namibia, Nepal, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Samoa, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, East Timor, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda and Uruguay.
Cleusia Chirindza
