Finance Ministry: U.S. State Department includes North Macedonia among fiscally transparent countries
Skopje, 9 September 2022 (MIA) – According to the U.S. Department of State’s 2022 Fiscal Transparency Report, North Macedonia is among the countries that meet the minimum requirements of fiscal transparency, the Ministry of Finance said.
The report defines “minimum requirements of fiscal transparency” to mean the public disclosure of national budget documentation (to include income and expenditures by ministry) and government contracts and licenses for natural resource extraction (to include bidding and concession allocation practices).
“The 2022 fiscal transparency review process evaluates whether the governments publicly disclosed key budget documents, including expenditures broken down by ministry and revenues broken down by source and type. The review process also evaluates whether the governments had a supreme audit institution that meets international standards of independence and audits the government’s annual financial statements, and whether such audits are made publicly available. The review further assesses whether the process for awarding licenses and contracts for natural resource extraction is outlined in law or regulation and followed in practice, and whether basic information on such awards is publicly available. Fiscal transparency, reads the State Department’s report, informs citizens how government and tax revenues are spent and is a critical element of effective public financial management. Transparency provides citizens a window into government budgets and those citizens, in turn, hold governments accountable. It underpins market confidence and sustainability,” the Ministry said in a press release.
Out of 141 countries, those eligible to receive U.S. foreign assistance, only half of the countries have met requirements, including the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Singapore, Slovakia, as well as Croatia and Slovenia, as well as the Western Balkan region’s countries.
“Over the past few years, significant steps have been taken by our Government to increase fiscal transparency. Several mechanisms and tools have been established to increase fiscal transparency. Also, with the new systemic legal solutions, such as the Law on Budget and the amendments to the Law on Financing of Local Self-Government Units, additional solutions are being adopted that will continue to improve fiscal transparency in the country,” the Finance Ministry said.
