Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Nepal ranked 58th in budget transparency, with a score of 50 out of 100, out of 125 countries in the 2023 Open Budget Survey made public late Wednesday.
Although Nepal’s score is higher than the global average of 45, it is considered ‘insufficient’, according to the survey.
“The survey 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,” the OBS 2023 states. “A transparency score of 61 or above indicates a country is likely publishing enough material to support informed public debate on the budget.”
However, it is a significant improvement compared to the 2021 Open Budget Survey when Nepal got a score of 39. Nepal’s highest score of 52 was achieved in 2017.
Likewise, Nepal has a Public Participation score of 31 and a Budget Oversight score of 46.
Nepal ranks second to India among SAARC member countries, followed by Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan in budget transparency.
In public participation, however, Nepal is ranked first among SAARC member countries, followed by Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and India.
