VZCZCXRO5299
PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHWD #0135 1111647
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 211647Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY WINDHOEK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0461
INFO RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP PRIORITY
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY UNCLAS WINDHOEK 000135 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
EEB/IFD/OMA JULIA JACOBY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS:        
SUBJECT: NAMIBIA: BUDGET TRANSPARENCY 
 
REF: STATE 28885 
 
 1. (U) The Namibian government makes its annual budget 
publicly available on an annual basis.  Responses to specific 
questions about the budget are keyed to the questions in 
paragraph three of reftel. 
Question 1.  Is the central government expected to receive or 
is it already receiving U.S. foreign assistance funded using 
FY 09 funds? 
Yes.  The Namibian government is receiving U.S. foreign 
assistance funds in FY09, and will in FY10 as well. 
Question 2.  Is the host country's budget publicly available? 
Yes.  The Namibian Ministry of Finance publishes its budget 
on-line.  The FY09/10 budget is available at 
http://www.mof.na/budget.htm 
Question 3.  Are incomes and expenditures included in the 
publicly-available budget? 
Yes.  Government revenue (incomes) and expenditures are 
included in the publicly-available budget.  The Namibian 
government's publicly-available budget generally reflects 
accurately government incomes and expenditures. 
 2. (U) The Open Budget Survey (www.openbudgetindex.org) gave 
Namibia a score of 47 percent on its scale of budget 
transparency, placing Namibia slightly above the median 
score.  The Open Budget Survey report states that the 
Namibian government gives "significant information to the 
public, meaning citizens have a comprehensive picture of the 
government's plans for taxes and spending for the upcoming 
year."   The report, however, criticizes the Namibian 
government for making it difficult to "track spending, 
revenue collection and borrowing during the year."  The 
report also notes that annual accountability reports are 
incomplete, and that it is not clear whether suggested 
improvements, from previous accountability reports, have been 
implemented. 
MATHIEU