Government-by-Government Assessments: Congo, Republic of the
During the review period, the government made significant progress by reviewing its budget throughout the fiscal year. The government made its enacted budget widely and easily accessible to the public, including online. However, it did not make its executive budget proposal or end-of-year report publicly available within a reasonable period. Information on debt obligations was not publicly available. Budget documents did not provide a substantially complete picture of the government’s planned expenditures and revenues. The government maintained off-budget accounts not subject to audit or oversight. Publicly available budget documents did not include allocations to, earnings from, or debt information of state-owned enterprises. Budget executions deviated significantly from budget projections, and the government did not produce and publicly issued revised budget estimates or pass a supplementary budget. The supreme audit institution did not meet international standards of independence and did not make audit reports available for review. The government specified in law the criteria and procedures for awarding natural resource extraction contracts and licenses but did not always follow those regulations in practice. The government made basic information on natural resource extraction publicly available.
The Republic of Congo’s fiscal transparency would be improved by:
- Making its executive budget proposal and end-of-year report publicly available within a reasonable period;
- Including all revenues and expenditures in the budget;
- Eliminating off-budget accounts or subjecting such accounts to audit and oversight;
- Detailing in budget documents allocations to, earnings from, and debt information of state-owned enterprises;
- Ensuring the supreme audit institution meets international standards of independence and publishes audit reports of the government’s executed budget;
- Producing and publicly issuing revised budget estimates or passing a supplementary budget when budget executions deviate significantly from projections; and
- Following natural resource extraction laws and regulations in practice.