The Washington-based International Budget Project said that Albania's score on its Open Budget Index showed the government provided the public with minimal information on the budget and economic activity during the fiscal year.

Poor access to information made it hard for citizens to hold the government accountable for the management of public money, the watchdog reported.

Albania's score was 37 points, ranking last in the region. Other regional rankings were as follows: Romania (62 points), Croatia (59), Bulgaria (57), FYROM (54), Serbia (45), Bosnia and Herzegovina (44), and Turkey (43). Only five countries scored more than 80 points.

The Open Budget Index 2008 evaluates the quantity and type of information that governments make available to the public in a country's budget documents.

The survey covered 85 countries from all the continents with a focus on 2007 budgets