Open Budget Survey-2021: Why Are Azerbaijan’s Results Questionable?

Abstract

The results of the 8th edition of the Open Budget Index (OBI) for 2021, prepared by the International Budget Partnership for Azerbaijan, have not been unequivocally welcomed by the local expert community and the public. Surprisingly, Azerbaijan is among the most advanced countries on the Open Budget Index (39 points). So, in the Open Budget Index-2021 report, Azerbaijan rose from 81st to 44th place among 120 countries, receiving 57 out of 100 possible points. In the latest published Open Budget Index, Azerbaijan's results increased by 22 points compared to the previous survey and are 12 points higher than the world average (45 points).
What is behind such dramatic changes? Has Azerbaijan really made significant progress in the budget over the past two years? What is changing? In this article, we will try to answer these and other questions.

Keywords: Open Budget Index (OBI), Azerbaijan, state budget, Chamber of Accounts, Parliament (Milli Majlis), transparency public participation