Fiscal transparency is becoming an increasingly important area of the public finance management reform in Uzbekistan. Since 2017, the UNDP project “Support to Public Finance Reforms in Uzbekistan” has contributed to this by reviewing the international assessments and demonstrating the best global practices, initiating changes in the format of the presentation of the State Budget to the Oliy Majlis (Parliament) and by developing a programme classification. In close cooperation with the Ministry of Finance and with the financial support of the British Embassy in Tashkent, the UNDP project has prepared a publication “Citizens’ Budget 2018” and several infographics on budget and budget process and started developing the "Open Budget" portal.

The Initiatives of the UNDP project are reflected in the Resolution of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan PP#3917 dd. August 22, 2018 “On measures to ensure the openness of budget data and active participation of citizens in the budget process”. This resolution sets up specific tasks to improve fiscal transparency by:

(1)   developing new formats (with detailed information breakdown) for the presentation of the State Budget to the Oliy Majlis and its approval by law;

(2)   ensuring publication and wide discussion of the main areas of tax and budget policy, the State Budget projects and the budgets of state targeted funds, as well as of the reports on their implementation;

(3)   issuing the “Citizens’ Budget” publication;

(4)   launching and providing continuous support of the “Open Budget” portal;

(5)   introducing a mechanism for citizens’ participation in the distribution of budgetary funds;

(6)   developing and approving a new budget classification, harmonizing the budget accounting with the international standards. In order to support these initiatives and demonstrate the commitment, Resolution provides for the conduct of the international assessments (PEFA) and participation, since 2020, in the rankings of the Open Budget Survey.

The UNDP will continue supporting the implementation of the objectives listed above. In particular, it will assist in the preparation and publication of the "Citizens’ Budget" based on the draft budget for 2019, in the development of the "Open Budget" portal, as well as in the introduction of the mechanisms for involving citizens in the budget process.