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Tunisia

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

15

Budget Oversight

53

Transparency

42

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, 323.02 KB
Questionnaire EN
pdf, 883.61 KB
42 /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 Tunisia compared to others

Global Average
45
Jordan
61
Morocco
48
Egypt
43
Tunisia
42
Saudi Arabia
23
Lebanon
9
Iraq
6
Algeria
3
Qatar
2
Sudan
1
Yemen
0
0
Insufficient
61
Sufficient
100

Tunisia’s ranking: 74 of 120 countries

0
100

How has the transparency score for Tunisia changed over time?

11
2012
42
2015
39
2017
35
2019
42
2021
0
Insufficient
61
Sufficient
100

Public availability of budget documents in Tunisia

Key
Available to the Public
Published Late, or Not Published Online, or Produced for Internal Use Only
Not Produced
Scroll
Document 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 Tunisia 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. 2021 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. 2021 52
Enacted Budget The budget that has been approved by the legislature. 2020 83
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 42
In-Year Reports Include information on actual revenues collected, actual expenditures made, and debt incurred at different intervals; issued quarterly or monthly. 2020 67
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 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. 2019 33
Audit Report Issued by the supreme audit institution, this document examines the soundness and completeness of the government's year-end accounts. 2018 Published Late

Tunisia’s transparency score of 42 in the OBS 2021 is moderately higher than its score in 2019.

What changed in OBS 2021?

Tunisia has increased the availability of budget information by:

Increasing the information provided in the Executive's Budget Proposal.

Recommendations

Tunisia should prioritize the following actions to improve budget transparency:

Publish the Audit Report online in a timely manner.
Produce the Pre-Budget Statement and Mid-Year Review, and publish them online in a timely manner.
Include information in the Executive's Budget Proposal that shows how new policy proposals affect revenues; present central government finances (both budgetary and extra-budgetary) on a consolidated basis; and provide estimates of transfers to public corporations, quasi-fiscal activities, contingent liabilities, and earmarked revenues.
Include information in the Year-End Report on: expenditure estimates by administrative and functional classifications, as well as by individual program; estimates of the differences between the original macroeconomic forecast for the fiscal year and the actual outcome; and the differences between the original estimates of nonfinancial inputs/results and actual outcomes.
Improve the comprehensiveness of the Citizens Budget (CB) by: distributing the CB via additional means of dissemination, establishing accessible mechanisms to identify the public’s requirements for budget information in the CB, and publishing "citizens" versions of other key budget documents published throughout the budget cycle.
15 /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.

Tunisia has a public participation score of 15 (out of 100).

Public participation in Tunisia compared to others

Global Average
14
Egypt
19
Tunisia
15
Morocco
7
Jordan
4
Sudan
4
Algeria
0
Iraq
0
Lebanon
0
Qatar
0
Saudi Arabia
0
Yemen
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

13
/100
Formulation
(executive)
67
/100
Approval
(legislature)
0
/100
Implementation
(executive)
0
/100
Audit
(supreme audit institution)
Key
0-40: Few
41-60: Limited
61-100: Adequate

Recommendations

Tunisia's Ministry of Finance has established pre-budget deliberations during budget formulation but, to further strengthen public participation in the budget process, should also prioritize the following actions:

Pilot mechanisms to monitor budget implementation.
Expand mechanisms during budget formulation to engage any civil society organization or member of the public who wishes to participate.
Actively engage with vulnerable and underrepresented communities, directly or through civil society organizations representing them.

Tunisia's Assembly of the Representatives of the People had established public hearings related to the approval of the annual budget. Following its dissolution on 30 March 2022, it is urgent that it be reinstated in order to restore the normal checks and balances of Tunisia's budget process. After its reinstatement, furthermore, the following actions should be prioritized to improve opportunities for public participation:

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.

Tunisia's Court of Accounts should prioritize the following actions to improve public participation in the budget process:

Establish formal mechanisms for the public to assist in developing its audit program and to contribute to relevant audit investigations.
53 /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 Tunisia, together, provide limited oversight during the budget process, with a composite oversight score of 53 (out of 100). Taken individually, the extent of each institution’s oversight is shown below:

Legislative oversight

0
45
100
limited

Audit oversight

0
73
100
adequate
Key
0-40: Few
41-60: Limited
61-100: Adequate

Recommendations

When Tunisia's Assembly of the Representatives of the People was in session, it provided adequate oversight during the planning stage of the budget cycle and no oversight during the implementation stage. Following its dissolution on 30 March 2022, it is urgent that the Assembly of the Representatives of the People be reinstated in order to restore the normal checks and balances of Tunisia's budget process. After its reinstatement, furthermore, the following actions should be prioritized to improve legislative oversight:

A legislative committee should examine in-year budget implementation and publish reports with their findings online.
In practice, ensure the Assembly of the Representatives of the People 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 Tunisia 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

Tunisia 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 2020 were assessed in the OBS 2021.
     
  • The survey is based on a questionnaire completed in each country by an independent budget expert:
    Karim Trabelsi
    Consultant
    32, Rue Jallouli Fares, Ennasr 1, Ariana, Tunisia, 2037
    [email protected]
  • To further strengthen the research, each country’s draft questionnaire is also reviewed by an anonymous independent expert, and in Tunisia by a representative of the Ministry of Finance.
Past reports
Years
Language
Country summary EN
PDF, en
Questionnaire EN
PDF, en
Country summary FR
PDF, fr
Country summary AR
PDF, ar
Country summary EN
PDF, en
Questionnaire EN
PDF, en
Country summary FR
PDF, fr
Country summary AR
PDF, ar
Country summary EN
PDF, EN
Questionnaire EN
PDF, EN
Country summary FR
PDF, FR
Country summary AR
PDF, AR
Questionnaire EN
PDF, EN
Country summary EN
PDF, EN
Country summary FR
PDF, FR
Country summary AR
PDF, AR
Questionnaire EN
PDF, EN
Country summary EN
PDF, EN
Country summary FR
PDF, FR