Greater accountability, inclusivity see Vietnam ascend world budget ranking

Vietnam, with 80 out of 100 points, ranked 13th among 120 countries and territories in the Open Budget Survey 2021's oversight score board.

Since 2006, the Open Budget Survey (OBS), with an evaluation cycle every two years, is the world’s only comparative, independent, and regular assessment of transparency, oversight and participation in national budgets. The 2021 survey showed all three fundamental metrics scores while the OBS 2019 only released transparency rankings.

Vietnam made it to the top 13 on the oversight score board, leading the Southeast Asian region in this section. With 28 points higher than the global average, the country is considered “adequate” by the survey.

Its public participation rate was 17, three points higher than the global average and notably two points higher than Germany and Sweden. The Philippines, with 35 points, ranked eighth on the board to lead the region.

In the budget transparency index, Vietnam scored 44 points, up 9 places and 6 points higher compared to the OBS 2019. Indonesia ranked 17, with 70 points, topping the region in these metrics.

The transparency scores are largely driven by two factors: what budget documents governments make available to the public and what information is provided in those documents.

Vietnam, according to the survey, had seven out of eight budget documents available to the public including pre-budget statement, executive's budget proposal, enacted budget, citizens budget, in-year reports, year-end report and audit report.

South Korea had the strongest performance in the OBS 2021, ranking first, 11th, and third in public participation, transparency, and oversight, respectively.

The 2021 survey came at a time when accountable and inclusive public budgets are more urgent than ever.