Santo Domingo – Dominican Republic managed to place itself among the top 10 countries in the world in terms of budget transparency, according to the most recent 2021 Open Budget Survey carried out by the organization International Budget Partnership.
“For the Dominican Republic it is an honor and a pride to have achieved this score”, stated the Minister of Finance, Jochi Vicente; during his participation in the event “Paths to progress in the 2021 Open Budget Survey”, organized by the International Budget Partnership.
The Open Budget Survey assesses the achievements and setbacks registered by countries in terms of budget transparency; citizen participation in the design processes of national budgets, as well as the institutional oversight capacity of governments.
Vicente affirmed that the elements that led to an improvement in the result were political will, institutional growth and technological improvements; together with the use of social networks to democratize budget information. “Without political will it is very difficult to show progress on an issue as complex and delicate as this”, pointed out the Minister of Finance.
He added that COVID-19 was a very important test because the governments’ entire focus was on attacking the pandemic; but that this did not prevent the Dominican Republic from quickly implementing reports to show how public spending was executed in those moments of health emergency.
Vicente affirmed that another element that favored was the increase in the frequency of budget reports; an action that was accompanied by a greater effort to encourage citizens to be part of the design and formulation of the General State Budget. Vicente said that the focus of the Dominican Government to continue advancing in terms of transparency is in strengthening the participation of the population in budget formulation processes.
