The International Budget Partnership (IBP), a leading NGO promoting responsible public finance, has raised Cambodia’s score on its budget transparency index, though much work remains for full accountability.
On August 15, the NGO Forum on Cambodia and IBP held a forum in Phnom Penh with other NGOs and institutions to present Cambodia’s transparency score of 43 out of 100 in the biennial Open Budget Survey (OBS), up 10 points from its 2021 score but still below the global average.
The OBS, managed by the IBP, is a research instrument that uses internationally accepted criteria to evaluate public access to governments’ expenditure plans, opportunities for civic participation in the budget process, and the power of oversight institutions.
Originally published in May 2024, Cambodia’s scores for fiscal year 2023 show signs of improvement, but still insufficient by the survey’s standards.
While acknowledging progress in public budgeting reform, the collective of NGOs and civil society institutions have urged the government to vastly expand opportunities for public participation in the country’s spending plans, an OBS category where Cambodia barely made it onto the index.
Cambodia’s new budget transparency score is its highest to date, ranking it ahead of only two other countries in the region – Timor-Leste (37) and war-torn Myanmar (3) – and 72nd out of the 125 countries surveyed.
Outside of its overall transparency rating, Cambodia scored just 2 out of 100 in the public participation category, an index that assesses the formal opportunities offered to the public for meaningful participation in the different stages of the budget process.
Additionally, oversight from Cambodia’s legislature and supreme audit institution remains limited according to the survey, with a composite score of 41 in the budget oversight category, unchanged from 2021.
Despite these subpar scores, government institutions have slightly increased the availability of budget documents to Cambodians over the last two years.
A transparency score of 61 or above indicates a country is likely publishing enough material to support informed public debate on the allocation of state funds, according to the IBP. But a low public participation score suggests the debates become futile without meaningful avenues for public-involvement in the decision-making process.
Bryan Fornari, Head of Cooperation at the European Union Delegation, highlighted in his presentation at the forum that the EU has engaged with Cambodia in the area of civic involvement in financial planning for almost a decade.
Following the promulgation of Cambodia’s public finance systems law in 2023, Fornari noted that the country now has a strong foundation to improve citizens’ understanding of public funds allocations and their impact on daily life.
However, he emphasized the current lack of civil input and stressed the need for a cultural shift to involve citizens more directly in decision-making and project selection.
“There is not much space for contribution to the formulation of budgets from the public,” he said to the room full of government officials and civil society organizations.
“Participatory budgeting requires a modernization in government culture and behavior.”
The IBP has given the government a slate of recommendations for expanding civic participation and transparency.
Cambodia should improve budget documentation with detailed financial data and multi-year projections, strengthen legislative oversight and audit practices, and actively involve the public, including vulnerable communities, in both budget formulation and audit processes, the organization advocated in the OBS report.
Fornari and other EU delegates underscored that advancing transparency and accountability is crucial for Cambodia’s investment climate.
The IBP and other NGOs that participated in Thursday’s forum, speaking on behalf of civil society, asked the Ministry of Economy and Finance to provide more opportunities for Cambodians to participate in the national and subnational budgeting process.
Soeung Saroeun, Executive Director of the NGO Forum on Cambodia, formally asked Secretary of State of the ministry [Meas Soksensan] to consider granting civil society organizations full member status to the Steering Committee of Public Financial Management Reform, the working group dedicated to drafting policy for public budgeting.
Saroeun argued that full member status for civil society groups would “bring the people’s voice to discussions on financial reform”.
During his time at the podium, Soksensan noted that the government will continue to work on improving budget transparency, oversight and public participation.
“We are only talking about measuring points, but the important thing is that I want people to look at the government and get a sense that the efforts are for all people,” he said.
