Romania

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

7

Budget Oversight

43

Transparency

63

Open Budget Survey 2021

Government budget decisions – what taxes to levy, what services to provide, and how much debt to take on – have important consequences for all people in society. When governments provide information and meaningful channels for the public to engage in these decisions, we can better ensure public money is spent on public interests.

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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 legislatures and national audit offices, 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 8th edition of the OBS covers 120 countries.

Summary
Country Specific Assessments
Country summary EN
pdf, 313.89 KB
Questionnaire EN
pdf, 870.22 KB
63 /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 Romania compared to others

Global Average
45
Bulgaria
71
Moldova
65
Ukraine
65
Slovakia
65
Romania
63
Poland
60
Czech Republic
60
Hungary
44
0
Insufficient
61
Sufficient
100

Romania’s ranking: 29 of 120 countries

0
100

How has the transparency score for Romania changed over time?

59
2010
47
2012
75
2015
75
2017
64
2019
63
2021
0
Insufficient
61
Sufficient
100

Public availability of budget documents in Romania

Key
Available to the Public
Published Late, or Not Published Online, or Produced for Internal Use Only
Not Produced
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Document 2010 2012 2015 2017 2019 2021
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 Romania 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. 2020 Published Late
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. 2020 65
Enacted Budget The budget that has been approved by the legislature. 2020 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. 2020 Not Produced
In-Year Reports Include information on actual revenues collected, actual expenditures made, and debt incurred at different intervals; issued quarterly or monthly. 2020 89
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. 2020 70
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. 2019 60
Audit Report Issued by the supreme audit institution, this document examines the soundness and completeness of the government's year-end accounts. 2018 67

Romania’s transparency score of 63 in the OBS 2021 is near its score in 2019.

Recommendations

Romania should prioritize the following actions to improve budget transparency:

Publish the Pre-Budget Statement online in a timely manner.
Produce and publish the Citizens Budget online in a timely manner.
Include in the Year-End Report program expenditure estimates,
performance and debt information, and data on policies that are intended
to directly benefit vulnerable populations.
7 /100

The OBS 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.

Romania has a public participation score of 7 (out of 100).

Public participation in Romania compared to others

Global Average
14
Ukraine
39
Bulgaria
26
Poland
22
Slovakia
22
Czech Republic
15
Moldova
11
Romania
7
Hungary
0
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)
0
/100
Approval
(legislature)
0
/100
Implementation
(executive)
33
/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, Romania's Ministry of Public Finance 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.

Romania's Parliament should prioritize the following actions:

Ensure participation and intervention of members of the public or civil society organizations during its hearings on the budget proposal prior to its approval.
Organize hearings on the Annual Audit Report and open them to the public or civil society organizations.

Romania's Court of Accounts has established mechanisms for the public to assist in developing its audit program. It should prioritize the following actions to improve public participation in the budget process:

Establish effective mechanisms for the public to contribute to relevant audit investigations.
Ensure transparent and timely follow-up and updates on the results of the audit investigations.
43 /100

The OBS 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 Romania, together, provide limited oversight during the budget process, with a composite oversight score of 43 (out of 100). Taken individually, the extent of each institution’s oversight is shown below:

Legislative oversight

0
31
100
weak

Audit oversight

0
67
100
adequate
Key
0-40: Few
41-60: Limited
61-100: Adequate

Recommendations

Romania's Parliament provides weak oversight during the planning stage of the budget cycle and weak oversight during the implementation stage. To 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.
The Executive’s Budget Proposal should be submitted to legislators at least two months before the start of the budget year.
Legislative committees should examine the Executive’s Budget Proposal and publish reports with their analysis online.
A legislative committee should examine in-year budget implementation and publish reports with their findings online.
In practice, ensure the legislature is consulted before the executive shifts funds specified in the Enacted Budget between administrative units; spends any unanticipated revenue; or reduces spending due to revenue shortfalls during the budget year.
A legislative committee should examine the Audit Report and publish a report with their findings online.

To strengthen independence and improve audit oversight by the Romania Court of Accounts, the following actions are recommended:

Ensure audit processes are reviewed by an independent agency.

The emerging practice of establishing independent fiscal institutions

Romania’s independent fiscal institution (IFI) is the Fiscal Council. Its independence is set in law, and it reports to the legislature and the executive. It publishes its own macroeconomic and fiscal forecasts, and its own cost estimates of major new policy proposals.

The indicators on IFIs are not scored in the Open Budget Survey.

Methodology

  • Only documents published and events, activities, or developments that took place through 31 December 2020 were assessed in the OBS 2021.
     
  • The survey is based on a questionnaire completed in each country by an independent budget expert:
    Elena Calistru
    Funky Citizens
    Colivia, 9, Pache Protopopescu, Bucharest, Romania
    [email protected]; [email protected]
  • To further strengthen the research, each country’s draft questionnaire is also reviewed by an anonymous independent expert.
Past reports
Years
Language
Country summary EN
PDF, en
Questionnaire EN
PDF, en
Country summary EN
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Questionnaire EN
PDF, en
Country summary EN
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Questionnaire EN
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Questionnaire EN
PDF, EN
Country summary EN
PDF, EN
Questionnaire EN
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Country summary EN
PDF, EN
Country summary EN
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Questionnaire EN
PDF, EN
Questionnaire EN
PDF, EN
Country summary EN
PDF, EN
Country summary EN
PDF, EN
Questionnaire EN
PDF, EN