Saudi Arabia rises up key international budget transparency index

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Finance has dramatically increased the availability of key financial and economic data since the launch of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. (AFP)

LONDON: Saudi Arabia jumped 18 places in an index that measures the transparency of budgets worldwide.
The results were presented by the International Budget Partnership, an international non-profit organization.
The Open Budget Index (OBI) is published every two years to assess the transparency of government budgets around the world. It covers more than 100 countries.
Saad Alshahrani, deputy minister for macro-fiscal policies, said the performance of the country in the latest rankings reflected efforts to boost the quality of fiscal data in the Kingdom.
He said that the Ministry of Finance had developed its fiscal systems to inform specialists, analysts and citizens in a timely manner and allow the private sector and investors to plan ahead and make informed decisions.
Since the launch of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, the Ministry has dramatically increased the availability of key financial and economic data along with the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority and the General Authority for Statistics.
“All of these measures contributed to a material and unprecedented shift in the levels of disclosure and transparency in the Kingdom, leading to an enhanced position on various international indicators and contributing to supporting domestic and foreign investment, as well as the credit rating of the Kingdom,” added Alshahrani.