Transparency (Open Budget Index) 42/100
The Government of Tunisia provides the public with limited budget information.
Public Participation 21/100
The Government of Tunisia is weak in providing the public with opportunities to engage in the budget process.
Budget Oversight
By legislature 33/100
Budget oversight by the legislature in Tunisia is weak.
By auditor 50/100
Budget oversight by the supreme audit institution in Tunisia is limited.
Recommendations
Improving Transparency
Tunisia should prioritize the following actions to improve budget transparency:
- Produce and publish a Pre-Budget Statement and a Mid-Year Review.
- Publish in a timely manner the Audit Report.1
- Increase the comprehensiveness of the Executive’s Budget Proposal by presenting more information on the classification of expenditures for future years and the classification of expenditures for prior years.
Improving Participation
Tunisia 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
Tunisia should prioritize the following actions to strengthen budget oversight:
- Ensure the Executive’s Budget Proposal is provided to legislators at least three months before the start of the budget year.
- In both law and practice, ensure the legislature is consulted prior to the virement of funds in the Enacted Budget, the spending of any unanticipated revenue, and the spending of contingency funds that were not identified in the Enacted Budget.
- Require legislative or judicial approval to remove the head of the supreme audit institution.