Vietnam Fiscal Transparency Review : Analysis and Stakeholder Feedback on State Budget Information in the Public Domain

Abstract

Vietnam has come far in improving fiscal transparency. Building on these gains could help strengthen macroeconomic management, improve market perceptions of risk, and increase accountability for service delivery. Fiscal transparency is an important element of the Government's policy dialogue with development partners, particularly in the context of ongoing budgetary support. External reviews of PFM and fiscal transparency in Vietnam have noted important progress though highlighted considerable scope for improvement. This report aims to complement ongoing PFM reviews, including the Government's Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) assessment, to help identify relatively low cost measures to strengthen fiscal transparency. It draws on existing diagnostic approaches to carry out a technical review on the public availability of fiscal information (section B), and the coverage, comprehensiveness and presentation of fiscal reports (sections C and D).