Vietnam’s Open Budget Index (OBI) increased rapidly in 2019 compared to 2018, according to a survey released on July 1.

Conducted by the International Budget Partnership (IBP) and announced globally and in Vietnam for the seventh time, the Open Budget Survey showed that Vietnam had advanced in the three pillars of transparency, participation, and oversight.

Ngo Minh Huong, Director of the Centre for Development and Integration (CDI), said that after a slight decline in the 2010-2017 period, Vietnam’s OBI rose strongly in 2019.

“The results are evidence of the efforts of the Vietnamese Government and Finance Ministry in implementing commitments regarding open information in resources management and use, making it easier for people to discuss budget matters along with legal reform and budget management towards greater transparency,” Huong said.

Vietnam scored 21.2 points in the Ministry Open Budget Index (MOBI) last year, which reveals the budget transparency of ministries and central agencies, up 10.2 points compared to 2018.

Of the 44 surveyed ministries and agencies, the State Bank of Vietnam ranked first with 73.17 points, followed by Vietnam Television with 49.56 points.

Twenty-four ministries and agencies put at least one out of the six documents they must show to the public online, while 18 announced their budget estimates in 2020 to the public and 17 showed their budget balance in 2018.

At the same time, eight out of 44 ministries and agencies reported the implementation of budget plans for the first quarter of 2019, while ten made public reports on the implementation of budget estimates in the first half of 2019, seven announced such documents for the first nine months of 2019, and eight published reports for the entire 2019.

Nguyen Duc Thanh, Chief Advisor of the Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research (VEPR), said the results of the two MOBI surveys conducted so far in 2018 and 2019 reveal a higher level of commitment by ministries and central agencies in implementing the 2015 Budget Law. He added that compared to localities, ministries and central agencies showed less transparency.