Government-by-Government Assessments: Belize

During the review period, the government made its enacted budget, end-of-year report, and information on debt obligations publicly available, including online.  Budget information was generally reliable.  However, it did not publish an executive budget proposal within a reasonable period.  Publicly available budget documents provided a substantially complete picture of the government’s planned expenditures and revenue, including natural resource revenues.  The government reviewed its budget throughout fiscal year.  Actual revenues and expenditures reasonably corresponded to those in the enacted budget.  Budget documents were comparable year-to-year and prepared according to internationally accepted principles.  The government broke down expenditures to support executive offices.  The military and intelligence budgets were subject to civilian public oversight.  While the supreme audit institution met international standards of independence, it did not publish audit reports within a reasonable period.

Belize’s fiscal transparency would be improved by:

• Making its executive budget proposal publicly available within a reasonable period; and
• Ensuring the supreme audit institution audits the government’s executed budget and makes audit reports publicly available within a reasonable period.