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Brazil

Which countries lead in budget accountability? Which ones need improvement? Explore our data and recommendations for each of the 120 countries assessed.
Open Budget Survey Results

Public Participation

17

Budget Oversight

78

Transparency

81

Open Budget Survey 2019

Government budget decisions – what taxes to levy, what services to provide, and how much debt to take on – affect how equal a society is and the well-being of its people, including whether the most disadvantaged will have real opportunities for a better life. It is critical that governments inform and engage the public on these vital decisions that impact their lives.

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The Open Budget Survey (OBS) is the world’s only independent, comparative and fact-based research instrument that uses internationally accepted criteria to assess public access to central government budget information; formal opportunities for the public to participate in the national budget process; and the role of budget oversight institutions such as the legislature and auditor in the budget process.

The survey helps local civil society assess and confer with their government on the reporting and use of public funds. This 7th edition of the OBS covers 117 countries.

Summary
Country Specific Assessments
Country summary EN
pdf, 227 KB
Questionnaire EN
pdf, 978.18 KB
81 /100

This part of the OBS measures public access to information on how the central government raises and spends public resources. It assesses the online availability, timeliness, and comprehensiveness of eight key budget documents using 109 equally weighted indicators and scores each country on a scale of 0 to 100. A transparency score of 61 or above indicates a country is likely publishing enough material to support informed public debate on the budget.

Transparency in Brazil compared to others

Global Average
45
Mexico
82
Brazil
81
Peru
76
Argentina
58
Colombia
47
Paraguay
46
Bolivia
12
0
Insufficient
61
Sufficient
100

Brazil’s ranking: 6 of 117 countries

0
100

How has the transparency score for Brazil changed over time?

71
2010
73
2012
77
2015
77
2017
81
2019
0
Insufficient
61
Sufficient
100

The increase in Brazil's transparency score is not due to new information being made publicly available, but to existing budget information which had not been captured in the previous round of the survey.

Public availability of budget documents in Brazil

Key
Available to the Public
Published Late, or Not Published Online, or Produced for Internal Use Only
Not Produced
Scroll
Document 2010 2012 2015 2017 2019
Pre-Budget Statement
Executive’s Budget Proposal
Enacted Budget
Citizens Budget
In-Year Reports
Mid-Year Review
Year-End Report
Audit Report

How comprehensive is the content of the key budget documents that Brazil makes available to the public?

Key
61-100 / 100
41-60 / 100
1-40 / 100
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Key budget document Document purpose and contents Fiscal year assessed Document content score
Pre-Budget Statement Discloses the broad parameters of fiscal policies in advance of the Executive's Budget Proposal; outlines the government's economic forecast, anticipated revenue, expenditures, and debt. 2019 84
Executive’s Budget Proposal Submitted by the executive to the legislature for approval; details the sources of revenue, the allocations to ministries, proposed policy changes, and other information important for understanding the country's fiscal situation. 2019 74
Enacted Budget The budget that has been approved by the legislature. 2018 95
Citizens Budget A simpler and less technical version of the government's Executive’s Budget Proposal or the Enacted Budget, designed to convey key information to the public. 2019 42
In-Year Reports Include information on actual revenues collected, actual expenditures made, and debt incurred at different intervals; issued quarterly or monthly. 2018 100
Mid-Year Review A comprehensive update on the implementation of the budget as of the middle of the fiscal year; includes a review of economic assumptions and an updated forecast of budget outcomes. 2018 85
Year-End Report Describes the situation of the government's accounts at the end of the fiscal year and, ideally, an evaluation of the progress made toward achieving the budget's policy goals. 2017 88
Audit Report Issued by the supreme audit institution, this document examines the soundness and completeness of the government's year-end accounts. 2017 100

Brazil’s transparency score of 81 in the OBS 2019 is near its score in 2017.

Recommendations

Brazil should prioritize the following actions to improve budget transparency:

Improve the Citizens Budget by ensuring that “citizens” versions of budget documents are published throughout the budget process, that they are disseminated widely using different means, and that they reflect the public's requirements for budget information.
17 /100

Transparency alone is insufficient for improving governance. Inclusive public participation is crucial for realizing the positive outcomes associated with greater budget transparency.

The OBS also assesses the formal opportunities offered to the public for meaningful participation in the different stages of the budget process. It examines the practices of the central government’s executive, the legislature, and the supreme audit institution (SAI) using 18 equally weighted indicators, aligned with the Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency’s Principles of Public Participation in Fiscal Policy , and scores each country on a scale from 0 to 100.

Brazil has a public participation score of 17 (out of 100), down from a score of 35 in 2017.

Public participation in Brazil compared to others

Global Average
14
Mexico
35
Peru
26
Brazil
17
Colombia
17
Argentina
15
Bolivia
15
Paraguay
6
0
Insufficient
61
Sufficient
100

For more information, see here for innovative public participation practices around the world.

Extent of opportunities for public participation in the budget process

0
/100
Formulation
(executive)
22
/100
Approval
(legislature)
0
/100
Implementation
(executive)
78
/100
Audit
(supreme audit institution)
Key
0-40: Few
41-60: Limited
61-100: Adequate

Recommendations

To further strengthen public participation in the budget process, Brazil's Ministério da Economia should prioritize the following actions:

Introduce mechanisms to engage the public during budget formulation and to monitor budget implementation. This could include reviving the Policy Councils and the Inter-Council Forum meetings that have been discontinued.
Actively engage with vulnerable and underrepresented communities, directly or through civil society organizations representing them.

Brazil's Congresso Nacional has established public hearings related to the approval of the annual budget, but should also prioritize the following actions:

Allow any member of the public or any civil society organization to testify during its hearings on the budget proposal prior to its approval and on the Audit Report.
78 /100

The OBS also examines the role that legislatures and supreme audit institutions (SAIs) play in the budget process and the extent to which they provide oversight; each country is scored on a scale from 0 to 100 based on 18 equally weighted indicators. In addition, the survey collects supplementary information on independent fiscal institutions (see Box).

The legislature and supreme audit institution in Brazil, together, provide adequate oversight during the budget process, with a composite oversight score of 78 (out of 100). Taken individually, the extent of each institution’s oversight is shown below:

Legislative oversight

0
75
100
adequate

Audit oversight

0
83
100
adequate
Key
0-40: Few
41-60: Limited
61-100: Adequate

Recommendations

Brazil's Congresso Nacional provides adequate oversight during the planning stage of the budget cycle and limited oversight during the implementation stage. To further improve oversight, the following actions should be prioritized:

A legislative committee should examine in-year budget implementation and publish reports with their findings online.
In practice, ensure the legislature is consulted before the executive reduces spending due to revenue shortfalls.
A legislative committee should examine the Audit Report and publish a report with their findings online.

To strengthen independence and improve audit oversight by the Brazil Tribunal de Contas da União, the following actions are recommended:

Ensure audit processes are reviewed by an independent agency.

The emerging practice of establishing independent fiscal institutions

Brazil’s independent fiscal institution (IFI) is the Instituição Fiscal Independente. Its independence is set in law, and it reports to the legislature. It publishes its own macroeconomic and fiscal forecasts, and its own cost estimates of some new policy proposals.

*The indicators for IFIs are *not* scored

Methodology

  • Only documents published and events, activities, or developments that took place through 31 December 2018 were assessed in the OBS 2019.
     
  • The survey is based on a questionnaire completed in each country by an independent budget expert.
  • To further strengthen the research, each country’s draft questionnaire is also reviewed by an anonymous independent expert, and in Brazil by a representative of the Ministério da Economia.

 

Past reports
Years
Language
Country summary EN
PDF, en
Questionnaire EN
PDF, en
Country summary PT
PDF, pt
Country summary EN
PDF, EN
Questionnaire EN
PDF, EN
Country summary PT
PDF, PT
Questionnaire EN
PDF, EN
Country summary EN
PDF, EN
Country summary PT
PDF, PT
Country summary EN
PDF, EN
Questionnaire EN
PDF, EN
Country summary PT
PDF, PT
Questionnaire EN
PDF, EN
Country summary EN
PDF, EN
Country summary PT
PDF, PT
Country summary CN
PDF, CN
Questionnaire EN
PDF, EN
Country summary EN
PDF, EN
Country summary PT
PDF, PT
Country summary EN
PDF, EN
Questionnaire EN
PDF, EN
Country summary PT
PDF, PT