Costa Rica
Ley de la Administración Financiera de la República y Presupuestos Públicos (Ley 8131/2001) y Ley Orgánica Contraloría General de la República (Ley 7428/1994)
Ley 8131/2001 LAFRPP; Ley 7428/1994 CGR; Ley 9986/2022 Contratación Pública; Ley 8422/2004; Ley 8292/2002; Ley 9416/2016 RTBF; Ley 9635/2018 LFPP; Const. Arts. 176-185
Costa Rica's fiscal transparency framework is the strongest in Central America, anchored by three constitutional pillars: mandatory annual budget adoption (Const. Arts. 176-178), a constitutionally independent Contraloría General de la República (Const. Arts. 183-185), and the LAFRPP (Ley 8131/2001) establishing the CUT single treasury account, SIGAF integrated financial management, and multi-year MFMP programming. The Contralor and Sub-Contralor are appointed exclusively by the Asamblea Legislativa for 8-year terms, removable only by a two-thirds majority — one of the region's strongest auditor legitimacy mechanisms. SICOP (Ley 9986/2022) provides transaction-level procurement transparency. OBS 2023 T=61 (OECD member since May 2020). The primary gap is the confirmed absence of a formal independent fiscal council; OECD recommended establishing one during accession.
Transparency Requirements
Budget Publicationmax 12 pts
| Budget publication required | ✓ Yes |
|---|---|
| Budget published online | ✓ Yes |
| Budget publication timeline | 122 days before fiscal year |
| Machine-readable budget format | No |
| Draft budget required before adoption | ✓ Yes |
Expenditure Disclosuremax 12 pts
| Expenditure disclosure required | ✓ Yes |
|---|---|
| Expenditure granularity | transaction |
| Public expenditure portal required | ✓ Yes |
| Expenditure reporting frequency | monthly |
Independent Auditmax 12 pts
| Audit required | ✓ Yes |
|---|---|
| Auditor independent of entity | ✓ Yes |
| Auditor selection method | elected |
| Audit frequency | annual |
| Audit reports public | ✓ Yes |
| Audit scope | financial performance |
Contract & Procurementmax 10 pts
| Public bidding required | ✓ Yes |
|---|---|
| Contract publication required | ✓ Yes |
| Bid award disclosure | ✓ Yes |
| Beneficial ownership disclosure | ✓ Yes |
Debt & Liability Disclosuremax 10 pts
| Debt disclosure required | ✓ Yes |
|---|---|
| Pension liability disclosure | No |
| Contingent liability disclosure | ✓ Yes |
| Voter approval required for new debt | No |
Fiscal Reporting Frequencymax 10 pts
| Interim reporting required | ✓ Yes |
|---|---|
| Interim reporting frequency | monthly |
| Year-end report deadline | — |
| Citizens budget required | ✓ Yes |
Enforcement & Oversightmax 10 pts
| Non-compliance penalties | ✓ Yes |
|---|---|
| Fiscal oversight body | No |
| Whistleblower protections | ✓ Yes |
| Legislative budget office | No |
Revenue & Tax Transparencymax 8 pts
| Tax expenditure reporting | ✓ Yes |
|---|---|
| Revenue forecasting required | ✓ Yes |
| Tax rate publication | ✓ Yes |
| Fee schedule publication | ✓ Yes |
Compensation & Payrollmax 8 pts
| Salary disclosure required | ✓ Yes |
|---|---|
| Salary disclosure scope | executives |
| Pension benefit disclosure | No |
| Overtime reporting | No |
Capital & Asset Disclosuremax 8 pts
| Capital plan required | ✓ Yes |
|---|---|
| Asset inventory required | No |
| Surplus asset disposal transparency | No |