Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug.1
By Aygun Badalova – Trend:
Azerbaijan has made significant progress in financial transparency, said the report of the US Department of State.
“Azerbaijan made significant progress during the review period by publishing more detail on planned expenditures, including allocations to state-owned enterprises,” said the 2016 Fiscal Transparency Report.
Fiscal Transparency Report describes the minimum requirements of fiscal transparency developed, updated, and strengthened by the Department in consultation with other relevant federal agencies, reviews governments that were originally identified as recipients of assistance in the 2014 Fiscal Transparency Report, assesses those that did not meet the minimum fiscal transparency requirements, and indicates whether governments that did not meet the minimum fiscal transparency requirements made significant progress toward meeting the requirements during the review period of January 1 – December 31, 2015. The report also provides a brief description of the use of the Fiscal Transparency Innovation Fund.
For the purpose of this report, the minimum requirements of fiscal transparency include having key budget documents that are publicly available, substantially complete, and generally reliable. The review includes an assessment of the transparency of processes for awarding government contracts and licenses for natural resource extraction. Fiscal transparency is a critical element of effective public financial management, helps in building market confidence, and underpins economic sustainability.
Fiscal transparency fosters greater government accountability by providing a window into government budgets for citizens, helping them to hold their leadership accountable, and facilitating better-informed public debates. The Department’s fiscal transparency review process assesses whether governments meet minimum requirements of fiscal transparency.
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