Fiji falls two points in transparency in the latest open budget survey results

The International Budget Partnership in collaboration with the Citizens’ Constitutional Forum has released the latest Open Budget Survey 2021 for Fiji.

The survey shows Fiji has scored 37 out of 100 in transparency.

According to the survey, a transparency score of 61 or above indicates a country is likely to publish enough material to support informed public debate on the budget.

The survey states Fiji has fallen by two points in transparency from the last score in 2019.

Fiji also scored 17 out of 100 in public participation and 28 out of 100 in budget oversight in the 2021 results.

CCF’s Programme Manager Luisa Lagilevu says the Fijian parliament should prioritize allowing any member of the public or any civil society organization to testify during its hearings on the budget proposal prior to its approval and allow them to also testify during its hearings on the audit report.

Lagilevu says Fiji’s parliament provides weak oversight during the planning stage of the budget cycle and weak oversight during the implementation stage.

She says to improve budget transparency, Fiji should publish a pre-budget statement, in-year reports, mid-year reports and year-end reports and produce and publish the citizens’ budget online in a timely manner, as well as improve the comprehensiveness of the audit report and enacted budget.

Lagilevu adds the survey is based on a questionnaire completed in each country by an independent budget researcher where the questionnaire was reviewed by an anonymous independent expert and in Fiji by a representative of the Ministry of Economy.