GAP: Budget transparency in municipality up

The GAP Institute has released the report “The Index of Business Transparency of the 2017”, which reportedly compared to 2016, this year has increased the level of budgetary transparency.

This report presents an assessment of budgetary transparency of municipalities in Kosovo, ranking municipalities on the basis of better performance.

Blendi Haysey, researchers at the GAP Institute, stressed that the municipal budgetary transparency index makes an assessment and ranking of municipalities depending on the number of published documents, budgetary hearings with citizens, and answers to the GAP Institute's requirements for access to budgetary documents.

The findings of this report show that compared to 2016, in 2017 the level of budget transparency has increased. Since in 2016 only 47% of municipalities have collected over 50 points in the index, in 2017 there are 53% of municipalities that have collected over 50 points. According to this index, the municipality with the highest transparency in 2017 is the municipality of Shtime, which has collected 85.5 points. While the three municipalities that have not collected a single point in the index, that have not published any budgetary documents or organised budgetary hearings with citizens, are the municipality of Mamusha, Leposaviqi and Zvecani”, the GAP communiqué says.

Blend Hyseni, a researcher at the GAP Institute, explained the methodology and findings of the GAP Institute's index for budgetary transparency of municipalities. He explained that a municipality can get the maximum scores only if it has published all budgetary documents related to the 2017 budget. In contrast with the 2016 index, a estimated ten - point report of the municipality's internal audience was added in 2017, while the number of budgetary hearing points has decreased to 2.5 each.

Of the 38 surveyed municipalities, only nine of them have published all documents that are legally binding, while none has published all documents that make up the GAP Institute index. Konto's Analytic Folder and the Interior Auditor's Report are the two more than at least published by municipalities”, said in the communique.

The budgetary transparency index is published on an annual basis by the GAP Institute, and besides the assessment, it contains concrete recommendations on how budget transparency can be improved for each municipality