Government-by-Government Assessments: Niger
During the review period, the government made its executive budget proposal, enacted budget, and end-of-year report accessible to the public, including online. Information on debt obligations was publicly available, except for state-owned enterprise debt information. Budget documents, however, provided an incomplete picture of the government’s planned expenditures and revenue streams, with insufficient detail on allocations to and earnings from state-owned enterprises. The government published revised budgets when revenues and expenditures deviated from initial projections. The supreme audit institution met international standards of independence. It audited the government’s executed budget and made its audit reports publicly available within a reasonable period. The government specified in law the criteria and procedures for awarding natural resource extraction contracts and licenses but did not always follow those regulations in practice. Basic information on natural resource extraction awards was publicly available.
Niger’s fiscal transparency would be improved by:
* Ensuring published budget documents include allocations to, earnings from, and debt holdings of major state-owned enterprises; and
Following applicable laws and procedures in practice for awarding contracts and licenses for natural resource extraction.
