Transparency (Open Budget Index) 51/100
The Government of the Dominican Republic provides the public with limited budget information.
Public Participation 23/100
The Government of the Dominican Republic is weak in providing the public with opportunities to engage in the budget process.
Budget Oversight
By legislature 70/100
Budget oversight by the legislature in the Dominican Republic is adequate.
By auditor 58/100
Budget oversight by the supreme audit institution in the Dominican Republic is limited.
Recommendations
Improving Transparency
The Dominican Republic should prioritize the following actions to improve budget transparency:
- Publish a Pre-Budget Statement.
- Produce and publish a Mid-Year Review.
- Increase the comprehensiveness of the Executive’s Budget Proposal by presenting the Multi-Annual Planning Budget of the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development at the same time as the Executive’s Budget Proposal and the classification of expenditures for prior years.
Improving Participation
The Dominican Republic should prioritize the following actions to improve budget participation:
- Establish credible and effective mechanisms (i.e., public hearings, surveys, focus groups) for capturing a range of public perspectives on budget matters.
- Hold legislative hearings on the budgets of specific ministries, departments, and agencies as well as on audit reports at which testimony from the public is heard.
- Establish effective ways of communicating audit findings to the public.
Improving Oversight
The Dominican Republic should prioritize the following actions to strengthen budget oversight:
- Establish regular consultations on budget matters between the executive and the legislature.
- In both law and practice, ensure the legislature is consulted prior to the spending of contingency funds that were not identified in the Enacted Budget.
- Ensure the supreme audit institution has adequate funding to perform its duties, as determined by an independent body (e.g., the legislature or judiciary).