Budget Transparency Law (MO0012)

Implementing the provisions of Organic Law No. 130-13 on the finance law relating to budget transparency and performance-oriented budgeting
From June 2018 to March 2020
Lead implementing agency/actor
Directorate of Budget (Ministry of Economy and Finance)
Commitment description
What is the public problem that the commitment will address?
The need to implement constitutional provisions that consecrate the right to information, preserve balanced public finances, promote good governance, and strengthen accountability to meet the expectations of citizens, who are increasingly aware of their rights within a modern, democratic state.
What is the commitment?
Increasing budget transparency while improving government performance and strengthening the role of Parliament on the budget debate and public finance scrutiny.
How will the commitment contribute to solve the public problem?
Enriching budget information that are available to the Parliament and the public; ▪ Improving the budget’s legibility by passing towards a per-program presentation of public policy, with the consolidation of the regional dimension, ▪ Communicating the Finance Bill on a large-scale, ▪ Consecrating the principles of assessment and accountability; ▪ Strengthening fundamental budget principles (budget and accounting sincerity, and rationalising of the creation and use of Independently Managed Special Accounts of Treasury and State Agencies)
Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values?
The commitment is relevant because it makes budget information available to the public. The latter improves its quality and accessibility. The commitment is relevant in terms of public accountability, because each ministry prepares a Performance Report to support the budget review law for the year in question. This report compares the achievements with the init
Milestone Activity with a verifiable deliverable
Preparing the Annual Performance Report
2019 31 March 2020
Preparing the Performance Audit Report
2019 31 March 2020
Presenting the State’s overall, three-year budget programme and the budgets for the ministerial departments
June 2018 January 2019
Contact point details
Contact point name (project manager)
Mr Ahmed BERRADA
Position/department
Associate Director in Charge of the Implementation of the Organic Finance Law, Directorate of Budget, Ministry of Economy and Finance
Email and telephone
berrada@db.finances.gov.ma
00 212 537 67 72 68 / 00 212 673 99 52 86
Other actors involved
All ministerial departments

Commitment 12: Implement Organic Law No. 130-13 on Finance

Language of the commitment as it appears in the action plan:

“The need to implement constitutional provisions that consecrate the right to information, preserve balanced public finances, promote good governance, and strengthen accountability to meet the expectations of citizens, who are increasingly aware of their rights within a modern, democratic state.

Increasing budget transparency while improving government performance and strengthening the role of Parliament on the budget debate and public finance scrutiny.

• Enriching budget information that are available to the Parliament and the public;
• Improving the budget’s legibility by passing towards a per-program presentation of public policy, with the consolidation of the regional dimension,
• Communicating the Finance Bill on a large-scale,
• Consecrating the principles of assessment and accountability;
• Strengthening fundamental budget principles (budget and accounting sincerity, and rationalizing of the creation and use of Independently Managed Special Accounts of Treasury and State Agencies).

Milestones:

• Preparing the Annual Performance Report,
• Preparing the Performance Audit Report,
• Presenting the State’s overall, three-year budget program and the budgets for the ministerial departments.”

Start Date: June 2018

End Date: March 2020

Editorial Note: the commitment description provided above is an abridged version of the commitment text, please see the full action plan here: https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/morocco-action-plan-2018-2020/

Context and objectives

This commitment aims to increase parliament and the public's access to budget information to inform their debate and participation in budget formulation and monitoring.

The Government of Morocco has sought to modernize its budget processes over the last few decades. Beginning in 2001, the government began to experiment with a results-based budgeting approach by evaluating programs based on performance outcomes. With the advent of the 2011 constitution, parliament took on a significantly greater role in budget formulation. [115] This shift was reflected in the 2015 Organic Law on Finance 130.13. Coming into force over 5 years beginning in 2016, the Organic Law on Finance represented a significant change in public financial management in Morocco. The law greatly increased Parliament’s role in budget formation and members of parliament's access to budget information. It also established the timeline and process for voting on the budget and the production of performance reports. ^[116] However, Ahmed Berrada, Associate Director in Charge of the Implementation of the Organic Finance Law and the government point of contact for this commitment, explains that previously, budget reports provided to parliament were highly technical and not user-friendly. Additionally, civil society consultations are limited. ^[117]

The objective of this commitment is to increase budget transparency. Specifically, the government will disclose budget performance reports for the three-year plans of departments as well as annual performance and audit reports. This commitment also aims to sensitize the public to the Finance Law. These reports would allow Morocco to move closer to the International Budget Partnership's standards and support parliamentary oversight and CSO participation. This commitment is verifiable and relevant to the OGP value of access to information as these reports would be publicly shared and discussed in parliament and with the public. This commitment is expected to have a moderate potential impact on citizens' access to information on budget formulation and performance.

With regards to public budget information, CSO representatives called for greater disclosure. Youness Benmoumen notes that budget information does not meet OECD standards as budget information is not published as raw data, in comparable and searchable formats. ^[118] Ahmed Bernoussi of Transparency Morocco says budget reports should better reflect the social implications of budget decisions, such as the social impact of tax policy. ^[119]

Interviewees highlighted several possible positive outcomes of this commitment. Ahmed Bernoussi says that if applied, the commitment would allow other concerned ministries to work together on budgetary affairs. ^[120] Ahmed Berrada states that this commitment will improve parliament and the public's ability to understand and debate the budget. ^[121] Mohammed Laouni believes that this commitment will strengthen citizen awareness about their right to have a say in budget formation. ^[122]

12. Implement Organic Law No. 130-13 on Finance

Complete:

This commitment aimed to increase access by Parliament and the public to budget information in order to inform their debate and participation in budget formulation and monitoring. [132] Specifically, the Budget Directorate of the Ministry of Economy, Finance, and Administrative Reform published administrative decrees (circulars), [133] guides, [134] information, [135] three-year budget programs plans for 2018, 2019 and 2020, [136] as well as budget performance reports for the government departments’ three-year plans for 2019, [137] 2020, [138] and 2021. [139] The self-assessment report also states that the Ministry presented a performance audit report for the 2018 budget to Parliament. [140] The government also held trainings and awareness‑raising events for officials and civil servants. [141] Ahmed Bernoussi, Secretary General of Transparency Morocco, [142] noted that three-year planning, and the establishment of performance and audit reports, is a positive step toward achieving stability in public finance. In terms of opening government, he believes that the impact of these efforts is uncertain as long as there is a lack of meaningful public consultations on public budgets.