Transparency (Open Budget Index) 17/100
The Government of Niger provides the public with scant budget information.
Public Participation 4/100
The Government of Niger is weak in providing the public with opportunities to engage in the budget process.
Budget Oversight
By legislature 73/100
Budget oversight by the legislature in Niger adequate.
By auditor 50/100
Budget oversight by the supreme audit institution in Niger is limited.
Recommendations
Improving Transparency
Niger should prioritize the following actions to improve budget transparency:
- Publish the Enacted Budget, In-Year Reports and a Year-End Report.
- Increase the comprehensiveness of the Executive’s Budget Proposal by presenting more information on the classification of expenditures for the budget year and presenting the classification of expenditures for future years.
Improving Participation
Niger 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 formal mechanisms for the public to assist the supreme audit institution to formulate its audit program and participate in audit investigations.
Improving Oversight
Niger should prioritize the following actions to strengthen budget oversight:
- Ensure the legislature holds a pre-budget debate and the outcome is reflected in the Enacted Budget.
- 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).