OTTAWA, Canada – Afghanistan, Liberia and Mongolia were recognized by the International Budget Partnership (IBP) for substantially increasing their levels of budget transparency in the IBP Open Budget Survey (OBS), according to FreeBalance, a global Government Resource Planning (GRP) software company.

In the 2010 OBS Survey, Afghanistan’s score jumped 13 points from eight in the 2008 survey to 21; Liberia’s score jumped 37 points as it increased from three in the 2008 Survey to 40 in the 2010 Survey; and Mongolia’s score doubled from 18 in the 2006 Survey to 36 in 2008 and further increased by 24 points to 60 in the 2010 Survey. 

"Congratulations to the governments of Afghanistan, Liberia, and Mongolia on the progress achieved in budget transparency," said Manuel Pietra, President  and CEO at FreeBalance. "FreeBalance is pleased to be working with these governments as they demonstrate leadership in modernizing their public financial management systems."

The OBS is the only independent, comprehensive and comparative measure of government budget practices. Open Budget Index (OBI) scores are based on the availability, comprehensiveness and timeliness of eight key budget documents across the budget cycle: pre-budget statement, executive’s budget proposal, citizen’s budget, enacted budget, in-year reports, mid-year review, year-end report, audit report.

The FreeBalance Accountability Suite is designed for the unique requirements of public financial management. FreeBalance covers the entire government budget cycle, including Budget Preparation and Budget Execution. Releasing budget information to citizens makes governments more accountable.  

The OBS is available for download at http://internationalbudget.org.