Government-by-Government Assessments: Cambodia
During the review period, the government made significant progress by publishing its executive budget proposal online within a reasonable period of time. The government made its enacted budget available online, but it did not produce an end-of-year report. Information on debt obligations was publicly available. The budget documents provided a substantially complete picture of the government’s expenditures and revenue streams, including natural resource revenues. Significant deviations between projected and actual revenues during the review period, however, undercut the reliability of budget information. Debt obligations of state-owned enterprises were not disclosed. The supreme audit institution did not meet international standards of independence and did not publish an audit report of the government’s executed budget. The criteria and procedures by which the national government awards contracts or licenses for natural resource extraction were not specified in law, regulation, or other public documents. The government instead relied on ad hoc negotiations to award contracts and licenses. Basic information on natural resource extraction awards was not publicly available. Cambodia’s fiscal transparency would be improved by:
- publishing its end-of-year report within a reasonable period of time;
- producing and publishing a supplemental budget when actual revenues and expenditures do not correspond to those in the enacted budget;
- publishing debt obligations of state-owned enterprises;
- ensuring the supreme audit institution meets international standards of independence, audits the government’s executed budget, and makes a report publicly available within a reasonable period of time;
- specifying in law or regulation the procedures and criteria by which the government awards natural resource extraction contracts or licenses and ensuring such laws or regulations are followed in practice; and
- making basic information on natural resource extraction awards publicly available.