Timor-Leste is a unitary state and has made significant progress with improving its fiscal transparency. The government has adopted a transparent, fiscally sustainable governance framework for the petroleum sector. Nonetheless, there are still many areas in which Timor-Leste diverges from the...

This report on Sri Lanka’s Observance of Standards and Codes highlights the fiscal transparency module. The 2003 Fiscal Management Act has improved the transparency of government fiscal policy. There has been little progress made in eliminating the quasi-fiscal activities of public...

The Czech government has made further progress in improving fiscal transparency that was already high by international standards. The measures implemented to broaden the coverage of general government data have been commended. Improved reporting on fiscal risks, including those arising from...

This paper presents an update to the Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC) on Fiscal Transparency for Greece. Two important steps toward improving fiscal transparency since the last ROSC update were Greece’s subscription to the Special Data Dissemination Standard in...

This paper presents an update to the Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes on Fiscal Transparency for Poland. Three state offices were consolidated with the government. Also, the Alimony Fund—an extrabudgetary fund—was liquidated and its functions were shifted to the...

This report focuses on Observance of Standards and Codes on Fiscal Transparency for Turkey. Turkey has continued to make progress toward meeting the requirements of the fiscal transparency code, in particular through a substantial overhaul of the legal system. The adoption of the Public...

The paper notes that the development of sound budgetary institutions in countries such as France, the U.K. and the U.S. has taken a very long time?200 years or more?and is still evolving. It discusses Douglass North's prediction?which is supported by available data?that institutional reform is...

This paper discusses the Republic of Congo’s enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. If the Republic of Congo is to effectively use the resources generated by the oil windfall to reduce poverty and ensure sustainable and equitable growth, improved prioritization of...