Budget Transparency Index

The lack or partial information on the spending of public funds by the local self-government units in Macedonia is a “brake” on the existence of accountability in a democratic society. The low awareness of the need for greater transparency in the spending of public funds contributes to inefficient allocation of funds, which in turn is in the interest of citizens and meeting their needs.

The fiscal transparency of the municipalities in RSM has generally improved in the fiscal year 2019-2020 compared to the past fiscal years (2014-2015, 2016-2017, 2017-2018). According to the budget transparency index, in the fiscal year 2019-2020, for the first time two municipalities achieved the maximum index points.

The availability of budget documents and documents related to the transparency of the budget adoption process in the LSGU in accordance with the legislation and the budget calendar for their publication is monitored:

Statute of the municipality,
Budget Proposal for 2020,
Enacted Budget for 2020,
Quarterly reports on the execution of the LSGU budget for 2019 (first, second, third and fourth quarter),
Final account of the LSGU for 2019,
Annual report on budget execution for 2019,
Citizen budget for any year and
State Audit Report of the LSGU (SAO) for some of the last 5 years (2014-2019).

The availability of documents for the period 2019-2020 was monitored through:
➢ web pages of the municipalities (2 index points);
➢ Official Gazette on the website of the municipality (1 index point);
➢ through Request for access to public information (1 index point).

More on the link Policy document for budget transparency. (in Macedonian language)