Lack of public participation dragging down Jamaica’s budget crafting score

Jamaica’s budget scorecard has risen by two percentage points since 2019 to reach a still insufficient score of 41, according to the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CAPRI) which last Thursday evening presented the results of an open budget survey assessing the openness of the Government of Jamaica’s 2023 budget.

Jamaica’s average score of 41 resulted from scores across three categories – Transparency (50), Participation (18), and Oversight (54).

The score ranks Jamaica at 55th out of the 125 countries assessed in the 2022-2023 open budget survey (OBS), conducted in collaboration with the International Business Partnership.

While the score places Jamaica above the majority of countries on the list, the report, presented by CAPRI researcher Morghan Phillips, suggested the government step up its efforts towards openness.

The report includes a list of recommendations on how the government might improve openness in the budget process.

“The significance of the budget is more than the amount of funds available, it is the governance of this budget that influences the economy, public health, social services, and the livelihoods of citizens,” the report stated. “Having an open budget is the key to upholding values of trust, accountability and meaningful citizen engagement. As citizens we have a right to be informed and participate in decision making about the budget.”

This is the third OBS for Jamaica, following 2019 and 2021.

In the area of transparency, which measures how comprehensively and timely the government provides access to budget information, Jamaica scored 42/100 in 2019, a scored that jumped to 50/100 in 2021, and remained stable at 50 for 2023.

Jamaica’s score is five points above the global average of 45 but below the benchmark of 61 designated as sufficient by the OBS. It is also below the average score of countries in the Caribbean and Latin America (56) and below developed countries (67), which Jamaica should aspire to reach.

The CAPRI report stated that, to arrive at the score for transparency, eight documents were reviewed for availability, timeliness, and comprehensiveness.

“Only seven of the eight documents were available; the exception was the pre-budget statement which was not and has never been published by the Jamaican Government. The rest were published in a timely manner. However, only two of the available seven documents received sufficient scores for their content; those were the budget proposal, and in-year report which is the central government’s operations table.”

Insufficient content

The report indicated that the citizen’s budget, the mid-year review, and the audit report had limited contents, while the enacted budget (Appropriations Act) and year-end report (fiscal policy paper), had insufficient content.

In the area of participation, Jamaica’s score of 18/100 puts it above the world average of 15, but just behind Latin America and the Caribbean’s score, also of 18, and developed countries, 24.

“Participatory budgeting is valuable because it enhances Government’s responsiveness, effectiveness and equity of resource allocation,” the document stated.

There are four stages where the public may be invited to participate – formulation, approval, implementation, and auditing.

Of the six topics recommended by the OBS for citizen engagement, the Jamaican Government has engaged its citizenry in two – the Jamaica Investment Map and the Constituency Development Fund.

“There are no formal or structured processes in place to engage citizens in changes in macroeconomics circumstances, delivery of public services, collection of revenue, or changes in deficit and debt levels,” stated the report.

The report added that Jamaica’s score of 67 in the auditing stage is the only sufficient score for participation in any stage of the budget process. This is largely due to the Auditor General’s Department, through its online submission portal, focus groups and anonymous letters.

Regarding oversight, Jamaica’s score of 56/100 was below the world mark of 62; Latin America and the Caribbean, 65 and developing countries, 85.

CAPRI’s recommendations

In considering the findings, CAPRI put forward several recommendations.

In the area of transparency, it was recommended that the government publish a pre-budget statement, improve comprehensiveness, and establish a pre-publication consultation mechanism for the citizen’s budget.

For improvement in participation, CAPRI suggested: To facilitate participation in the formulation stage of the budget by setting up a submissions portal on the Ministry of Finance website to collect feedback; Citizens input should inform the budget proposal – this could be facilitated by changing the current process where the budget proposal is created, debated and revised by the legislator for enactment, to a more participatory approach which allows for citizens input; expand the Jamaica Investment Map beyond capital expenditures to enable citizens to track operational costs and debt repayments; and summarise the use of citizen feedback by outlining how issues raised by citizens were addressed.”

In the area of oversight, CAPRI recommended: “Make audit report more comprehensive by advising public on actions required to address the AuGD recommendations and the progress made by the Government since the previous recommendations were issued for ongoing monitoring and evaluation; the PAAC needs to meet its benchmark requirements by reporting on the in-year reports of the central government operations tables at least three times during the budget year; [and] promote the Jamaica Investment Map through social media and other communications campaigns to encourage active engagement that will strengthen public oversight.”

editorial@gleanerjm.com