BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 30. For the first time, Azerbaijan scored 67 points out of 100 on the International Budget Partnership's (IBP) "Open Budget Index" for 2023, ranking 21st out of 125 countries, renowned economics expert Ingilab Ahmadov told Trend.
“This is a major accomplishment. There is a two-yearly compilation of this index. The prior index from 2021 was also successful. But this time it's unprecedented: we're now among the group of countries that publish sufficient information, when it comes to being open and giving the public what they need to make informed decisions. With 67 points, Azerbaijan is now in the 21st spot on this ranking, right next to nations like Croatia and the United States. Because of this monumental achievement, Azerbaijan is now considered to be part of an exclusive group of nations," he explained.
Ahmadov believes this is the result of the consistent work of the Ministry of Finance and the Chamber of Accounts, which are directly responsible for their issues in this index.
“The Ministry of Finance in particular has performed admirably for the past five or six years. It is important to highlight the medium-term expenditures framework (MTEF). Statistics are available from the Ministry not just for the coming year, but also for the three years ahead. The timely publication of the data on the Ministry of Finance's website and in other crucial budget documents has been vital to Azerbaijan's remarkable progress on these metrics. Being part of the group that gives the public enough knowledge is a major accomplishment,” Ahmadov added.