Budget transparency around the World: Results from the 2008 open budget survey

The movement for greater fiscal transparency has been gaining momentum in recent years. To contribute to these efforts, the International Budget Partnership (IBP) developed the Open Budget Survey in 2006. The 2008 survey finds that the state of budget transparency around the world is deplorable, although a number of countries have improved their performance over the past two years. This article discusses the results of the 2008 survey and ways of improving budget transparency.