Government-by-Government Assessments: Mauritania

During the review period, the government made significant progress by subjecting the military and intelligence budget to parliamentary oversight.  The enacted budget and end-of-year report were widely and easily accessible to the public, including online, but not the executive budget proposal.  Information on debt obligations was limited and not published within a reasonable period, including for state-owned enterprises.  Budget documents provided a substantially complete picture of the government’s planned expenditures and revenue, including natural resource revenues.  The information in budget documents was generally reliable.  While the supreme audit institution met international standards of independence, it did not publish timely and comprehensive reports.  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.  Basic information on natural resource extraction awards was publicly available.  The sovereign wealth fund did not have a sound legal framework or disclose its source of funding and general approach to withdrawals.

Mauritania’s fiscal transparency would be improved by:

• Making the executive budget proposal publicly available within a reasonable period;
• Publishing information on government debt obligations, including major state-owned enterprise debt;
• Ensuring the supreme audit institution meets international standards of independence and publishes timely audit reports of the government’s executed budget;
• Following natural resource extraction laws and regulations in practice; and
• Establishing the sovereign wealth fund’s sound legal framework and disclosing its source of funding and general approach to withdrawals.