Transparency in south American central governments

Abstract

The term “transparency” in economics and finance is defined very broadly as a process by which information about existing conditions, decisions, and actions is made accessible, visible, and understandable. Transparency is understood as the effective flow of information or as the process in which the information is prepared and disclosed in a safe, understandable, and timely manner (IMF Working Group 1998; Kopits and Craig 1998; Vishwanath and Kaufmann 1999). In particular, transparency is the opposite of secrecy (Florini 2000).