Government-by-Government Assessments: Lebanon
During the review period, the government published its executive budget proposal and enacted budget online but did not publish an end-of-year report. Information on debt obligations was publicly available online. However, information on state-owned enterprise debt guaranteed by the government was not available. The budget documents did not present a full picture of expenditures and revenue. Details regarding allocations to and earnings from state-owned enterprises were limited. Military and intelligence budgets were not publicly available and were subject to limited oversight by an inspector general and the President’s High Defense Council. The information in the budget was not considered reliable or reasonably accurate and did not correspond to actual revenues and expenditures. The supreme audit institution does not meet international standards of independence and did not make its audit reports publicly available. Lebanon’s fiscal transparency would be improved by:
- publishing in a timely fashion an end-of-year report;
- making information on state-owned enterprise debt publicly available;
- ensuring budget documents are substantially complete;
- detailing allocations to and earnings from state-owned enterprises;
- including all military revenue sources and expenditures in budget documents;
- enhancing the reliability of budget documents and publishing supplemental budgets when actual expenditures and revenues differ significantly from estimated figures;
- ensuring the supreme audit institution meets international standards of independence; and
- making supreme audit institution reports publicly available.