According to the 2021 Open Budget Index, Georgia claimed first place, placing Georgia ahead of South Africa in terms of openness globally (OBI).
Georgia won the top spot in the Index, which was compiled by the International Budget Partnership (IBP) through an Open Budget Survey of 120 nations, surpassing both South Africa and New Zealand.
IBP is the only independent, global benchmark for budget participation, transparency, and oversight.
South Africa unexpectedly dropped to second place in 2021.
The National Treasury issued a statement in which it stated: “However, South Africa continues to reinforce its commitment to a transparent budget system, maintaining its image as a global leader.
South Africa ranks second best with a score of 86 out of 100, which demonstrates the country’s commitment to transparency.
The global transparency average is 45 out of 100.
South Africa got 19 out of 100 in the category for public involvement, which National Treasury recognizes as being poor despite being higher than the 14.2 global average.
After the results of the most recent OBI poll, the Department claimed that actions had already been taken.
To further improve public participation in the budget process, South Africa is taking part in the Fiscal Openness Accelerator (FOA) pilot project in collaboration with IBP and the Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency (GIFT).
“The pilot is in its second and final year, and the goal is to improve the approach will be to solicit public opinion in the interest of improving public engagement in the budget process.”
South Africa received an overall score of 81 out of 100 in the last category, supervision.
On legislative oversight and audit oversight, South Africa receives a score of 72 and 100, respectively.
Only 41 of the 120 nations have sufficient oversight.
As stipulated by the South African Constitution, this continues to represent South Africa’s dedication to improving its budget process and encouraging public engagement.
The OBI survey offers a thorough analysis of South Africa’s budgeting procedure. Internationalbudget.org/open-budget-survey encourages citizens to use the data in budget documents for productive analysis and study.