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Secret Budgets

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An effective and transparent process of allocating, managing and overseeing resources dedicated to the defence and security sectors is key to creating accountable governments, defence institutions, and armed forces. Yet in many countries around the world, governments and defence establishments publish little or no defence budget information to the public, or even their legislatures.

The key tool for combating secret budgets, which are unaccountable to the public and have a high corruption risk, is defence budget transparency. Defence budget transparency is one of TI-DSP's focus areas, and we have conducted research on the subject.

Defence budget documents (including proposed budgets, enacted budgets, and audit reports) are the primary tools that give legislators and citizens the information they need to hold governments and armed forces accountable for their decisions. Disclosing defence-related data is a sensitive area, and a certain level of secrecy may be justified and necessary.  Yet defence budget transparency is not limited to the disclosure of information—it also means an effective and robust system of oversight and control. 
 

Why is Defence Budget Transparency needed?

  • The defence budget allows citizens to understand how their funds are being spent, and to hold their governments accountable for their spending decisions. There is a trade-off between defence spending and public services, and public oversight gives citizens the ability to understand and give opinions on how spending is balanced—a critical aspect of the democratic process. 
  • An opaque defence budget hurts the armed forces. Adequate and transparent defence budgeting is needed in order to allocate resources between the different functions performed within the defence and security sectors in a manner that maximizes strategic and operational performance, and to ensure that those resources are not used for personal gain. A lack of accountability in defence budgeting feeds corruption—and corruption causes the armed forces to lose effectiveness and efficiency.
  • Secrecy is sometimes required and justified. Accountability can be achieved, however, with strong oversight mechanisms, sound financial management, and robust legal principles. Too often, leaders or ministries use the rhetoric of protecting national security as a veil for illicit activity. 
  • Excessive secrecy, while theoretically protecting national security, can translate into higher levels of uncertainty and suspicion on a regional and global level. There is a growing realization among members of regional organizations that stability and security can be enhanced through more disclosure of defence-related information. 
We believe that it is in the best interests of governments, the armed forces, and the people to have a system with a well-established and functioning defence budgeting process, with clearly defined roles and responsibilities and independent control and monitoring.  Though we understand the need for secrecy regarding some subjects (for instance, research and development and the protection of witnesses),we believe citizens should be able to access detailed budget information in a timely manner—this right should be enshrined in law and adhered to in practice. Defence budgets should be constructed based on an evaluation of needs and capabilities, and with the active involvement of an elected committee or parliamentary group that is representative and accountable to the people. 
 

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