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Costa Rica

Which countries lead in budget accountability? Which ones need improvement? Explore our data and recommendations for each of the 120 countries assessed.
Open Budget Survey Results

Public Participation

9

Budget Oversight

74

Transparency

57

Open Budget Survey 2019

Government budget decisions – what taxes to levy, what services to provide, and how much debt to take on – affect how equal a society is and the well-being of its people, including whether the most disadvantaged will have real opportunities for a better life. It is critical that governments inform and engage the public on these vital decisions that impact their lives.

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The Open Budget Survey (OBS) is the world’s only independent, comparative and fact-based research instrument that uses internationally accepted criteria to assess public access to central government budget information; formal opportunities for the public to participate in the national budget process; and the role of budget oversight institutions such as the legislature and auditor in the budget process.

The survey helps local civil society assess and confer with their government on the reporting and use of public funds. This 7th edition of the OBS covers 117 countries.

Summary
Country Specific Assessments
Country summary EN
pdf, 227.4 KB
Questionnaire EN
pdf, 825.87 KB
57 /100

This part of the OBS measures public access to information on how the central government raises and spends public resources. It assesses the online availability, timeliness, and comprehensiveness of eight key budget documents using 109 equally weighted indicators and scores each country on a scale of 0 to 100. A transparency score of 61 or above indicates a country is likely publishing enough material to support informed public debate on the budget.

Transparency in Costa Rica compared to others

Global Average
45
Mexico
82
Dominican Republic
75
Guatemala
65
Honduras
59
Costa Rica
57
El Salvador
46
Jamaica
42
Nicaragua
41
Trinidad and Tobago
30
0
Insufficient
61
Sufficient
100

Costa Rica’s ranking: 40 of 117 countries

0
100

How has the transparency score for Costa Rica changed over time?

47
2010
50
2012
54
2015
56
2017
57
2019
0
Insufficient
61
Sufficient
100

Public availability of budget documents in Costa Rica

Key
Available to the Public
Published Late, or Not Published Online, or Produced for Internal Use Only
Not Produced
Scroll
Document 2010 2012 2015 2017 2019
Pre-Budget Statement
Executive’s Budget Proposal
Enacted Budget
Citizens Budget
In-Year Reports
Mid-Year Review
Year-End Report
Audit Report

How comprehensive is the content of the key budget documents that Costa Rica makes available to the public?

Key
61-100 / 100
41-60 / 100
1-40 / 100
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Key budget document Document purpose and contents Fiscal year assessed Document content score
Pre-Budget Statement Discloses the broad parameters of fiscal policies in advance of the Executive's Budget Proposal; outlines the government's economic forecast, anticipated revenue, expenditures, and debt. 2019 Not Produced
Executive’s Budget Proposal Submitted by the executive to the legislature for approval; details the sources of revenue, the allocations to ministries, proposed policy changes, and other information important for understanding the country's fiscal situation. 2019 68
Enacted Budget The budget that has been approved by the legislature. 2019 95
Citizens Budget A simpler and less technical version of the government's Executive’s Budget Proposal or the Enacted Budget, designed to convey key information to the public. 2019 58
In-Year Reports Include information on actual revenues collected, actual expenditures made, and debt incurred at different intervals; issued quarterly or monthly. 2018 70
Mid-Year Review A comprehensive update on the implementation of the budget as of the middle of the fiscal year; includes a review of economic assumptions and an updated forecast of budget outcomes. 2018 Not Produced
Year-End Report Describes the situation of the government's accounts at the end of the fiscal year and, ideally, an evaluation of the progress made toward achieving the budget's policy goals. 2017 55
Audit Report Issued by the supreme audit institution, this document examines the soundness and completeness of the government's year-end accounts. 2017 48

Costa Rica’s transparency score of 57 in the OBS 2019 is near its score in 2017.

Recommendations

Costa Rica should prioritize the following actions to improve budget transparency:

Produce and publish the Pre-Budget Statement and Mid-Year Review online in a timely manner.
Include in the Year-End Report debt and macroeconomic information.
Improve the comprehensiveness of the Audit Report and Citizens Budget.
9 /100

Transparency alone is insufficient for improving governance. Inclusive public participation is crucial for realizing the positive outcomes associated with greater budget transparency.

The OBS also assesses the formal opportunities offered to the public for meaningful participation in the different stages of the budget process. It examines the practices of the central government’s executive, the legislature, and the supreme audit institution (SAI) using 18 equally weighted indicators, aligned with the Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency’s Principles of Public Participation in Fiscal Policies , and scores each country on a scale from 0 to 100.

Costa Rica has a public participation score of 9 (out of 100).

Public participation in Costa Rica compared to others

Global Average
14
Mexico
35
Guatemala
35
Dominican Republic
31
Honduras
17
El Salvador
13
Costa Rica
9
Jamaica
7
Nicaragua
7
Trinidad and Tobago
7
0
Insufficient
61
Sufficient
100

For more information, see here for innovative public participation practices around the world.

Extent of opportunities for public participation in the budget process

0
/100
Formulation
(executive)
11
/100
Approval
(legislature)
0
/100
Implementation
(executive)
44
/100
Audit
(supreme audit institution)
Key
0-40: Few
41-60: Limited
61-100: Adequate

Recommendations

To further strengthen public participation in the budget process, Costa Rica's Ministerio de Hacienda should prioritize the following actions:

Pilot mechanisms to engage the public during budget formulation and to monitor budget implementation.
Actively engage with vulnerable and underrepresented communities, directly or through civil society organizations representing them.

Costa Rica's Asamblea Legislativa has established public hearings related to the approval of the annual budget, but should also prioritize the following actions:

Allow any member of the public or any civil society organization to testify during its hearings on the budget proposal prior to its approval.
Allow members of the public or civil society organizations to testify during its hearings on the Audit Report.

Costa Rica's Contraloría General de la República has established mechanisms to assist the supreme audit institution in developing its audit program. It should prioritize the following actions to improve public participation in the budget process:

Establish formal mechanisms for the public to contribute to relevant audit investigations.
74 /100

The OBS also examines the role that legislatures and supreme audit institutions (SAIs) play in the budget process and the extent to which they provide oversight; each country is scored on a scale from 0 to 100 based on 18 equally weighted indicators. In addition, the survey collects supplementary information on independent fiscal institutions (see Box).

The legislature and supreme audit institution in Costa Rica, together, provide adequate oversight during the budget process, with a composite oversight score of 74 (out of 100). Taken individually, the extent of each institution’s oversight is shown below:

Legislative oversight

0
67
100
adequate

Audit oversight

0
89
100
adequate
Key
0-40: Few
41-60: Limited
61-100: Adequate

Recommendations

Costa Rica's Asamblea Legislativa provides adequate oversight during the planning stage of the budget cycle and adequate oversight during the implementation stage. To further improve oversight, the following actions should be prioritized:

The legislature should debate budget policy before the Executive’s Budget Proposal is tabled and approve recommendations for the upcoming budget.
A legislative committee should examine in-year budget implementation and publish reports with their findings online.
A legislative committee should examine the Audit Report and publish a report with their findings online.

The emerging practice of establishing independent fiscal institutions

Costa Rica does not have an independent fiscal institution (IFI). IFIs are increasingly recognized as valuable independent and nonpartisan information providers to the Executive and/or Parliament during the budget process.

*These indicators are *not* scored in the Open Budget Survey.

Methodology

  • Only documents published and events, activities, or developments that took place through 31 December 2018 were assessed in the OBS 2019.
     
  • The survey is based on a questionnaire completed in each country by an independent budget expert:
    Steffan Gómez Campos; Laura González
    Programa Estado de la Nación
    CONARE, Edificio Dr. Franklin Chang Díaz 300 metros al norte del Parque de La Amistad Pavas, San José, Costa Rica, Apdo. 1174-1200.
    [email protected]; [email protected]
  • To further strengthen the research, each country’s draft questionnaire is also reviewed by an anonymous independent expert, and in Costa Rica by a representative of the Ministerio de Hacienda.

 

Past reports
Years
Language
Country summary EN
PDF, en
Questionnaire EN
PDF, en
Country summary ES
PDF, es
Country summary EN
PDF, EN
Questionnaire EN
PDF, EN
Country summary ES
PDF, ES
Country summary EN
PDF, EN
Questionnaire EN
PDF, EN
Country summary ES
PDF, ES
Questionnaire EN
PDF, EN
Country summary EN
PDF, EN
Country summary ES
PDF, ES
Questionnaire EN
PDF, EN
Country summary EN
PDF, EN
Country summary ES
PDF, ES
Questionnaire EN
PDF, EN
Country summary EN
PDF, EN
Country summary ES
PDF, ES
Country summary EN
PDF, EN
Questionnaire EN
PDF, EN
Country summary ES
PDF, ES