VZCZCXYZ0001
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLGB #0221 1100600
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 200600Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY KIGALI
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6017

UNCLAS KIGALI 000221 
 
SIPDIS 
 
EEB/IFD/OMA FOR JJACOBY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID ECON PREL EFIN PGOV RW
SUBJECT: RWANDA BUDGET TRANSPARENCY 
 
REF: A. STATE 28885 
     ¶B. KIGALI 150 
 
 ¶1. (U) The FY09 foreign assistance package for Rwanda 
includes funds that are considered assistance for the central 
government under the Foreign Operations, Export Financing and 
Related Programs Appropriations Act of 2003 (FOAA-3). Post 
therefore provides the following responses to the questions 
contained in ref A. 
 
¶2. (U) Is the host country's budget publicly available:  Yes; 
the Rwandan budget is available publicly, both in electronic 
form and in hard copy. Two or three months before the start 
of the fiscal year, the Finance Minister presents to the 
Parliament the budget for the upcoming fiscal year 
(previously January-December).  The Government of Rwanda 
(GOR) encourages members of Parliament, donors and 
individuals from the private sector to weigh in on the 
budget.  Once approved by Parliament, the budget is then 
published in the official gazettes in Kinyarwanda, English 
and French.  Since 2006, the GOR has also posted the budget 
on-line in both English and French on the Ministry of 
Finance's website.  This year Rwanda is harmonizing its 
budget with the other countries of the East African Community 
(EAC) which runs on a July-June cycle.  Accordingly, for 2009 
there is a mini-budget covering January-June. 
 
¶3. (U)  Are incomes and expenditures included in the 
publicly-available budget:  Yes; the published budget is 
extensive and contains all GOR revenues and expenditures. 
The on-line posting allows users to view the budget breakouts 
by Economic Category, Agency, Programs or Sector and 
Sub-Sector.  The GOR continues to work with the IMF to ensure 
that Rwanda is compliant with IMF standards and codes 
covering fiscal transparency. 
 
¶4. (U) Post's assessment of the extent to which the 
publicly-available budget accurately reflects actual 
government incomes and expenditures:  The Rwandan budget 
accurately reflects actual government incomes and 
expenditures.  Fiscal transparency is supported by the GOR 
leadership and by the large donor community who support 
approximately 50 percent of GOR's public sector expenditures. 
 The donor community's support for fiscal transparency is 
often twofold, mandating fiscal transparency in GOR budgetary 
accounts while funding independent projects to foster 
transparency and accountability. As with the IMF's Poverty 
Reduction and Growth Facility Program, most donors have 
mandatory conditions to budgetary support that foster fiscal 
transparency and accountability. 
 
¶5. (U) Comment: The GOR and President Kagame are committed to 
fiscal transparency and accountability and are continuing to 
undertake numerous reforms to foster accountability and fight 
corruption (ref B).  Although a lack of capacity can 
sometimes hinder the GOR's implementation of ambitious fiscal 
reforms, the government is rightfully proud of its good 
reputation for fiscal accountability and transparency. 
SYMINGTON