Washington: The United States calls on Pakistan to monitor parliament or civilian public to reconcile its defense and intelligence budget, describing it as a key step in improving fiscal accountability and transparency.
The recommendation appears in the U.S. State Department’s fiscal transparency report released on Friday 2025. The annual report reviews the openness of global budget practices and evaluates how governments publish, audit and manage public funds.
The report said in the Pakistan section: “The military and intelligence budget is not subject to adequate oversight by parliament or civilian public.” It added: “Pakistan can take steps to improve fiscal transparency, including…to bring the budget of military and intelligence agencies behind parliament or civilian public”.
The report also urges Pakistan to ensure timely release of its administrative budget proposals. The assessment stated: “The government … has not issued its budget proposal for its implementation within a reasonable period.”
After the debt disclosure, the report found that “the government only obtained limited debt bond information on the debt including major state-owned enterprise debts, including publicly owned enterprise debt.” It recommended “disclosure of detailed information about the body of government debt, including state-owned enterprises.”
The fiscal transparency report commends Pakistan’s audit agency, saying it “complies with international independent standards”
While emphasizing these shortcomings, the State Council has made progress in other areas. It noted that Pakistan’s “enacted budgets and annual reports (including online) are widely accessible”, budget information is generally reliable and audited by the highest auditing body. ”
It also praised the independence of Pakistan’s highest auditing agency and demonstrated “with international independent standards” within a reasonable period and published audit results at a reasonable period.
The report further observes that Pakistan “is specified in laws or regulations and appears to follow standards and procedures for granting contracts and permits for natural resource extraction,” and provides “basic information on natural resource extraction rewards.”
This year’s assessment echoes concerns raised in previous State Council reports that repeatedly point to the gap in debt transparency and the lack of legislative oversight on defense spending.
The report jokes with Pakistan with the highest budget pressure. The government has proposed a budget for the fiscal year 2025-26, totaling Rs 17.57 trillion. Of these, the Rs of rupees have been allocated as debt, while Rs 2.55 have been reserved for defense – nearly 20% compared to last year.
At a time when external finance and investment are crucial to economic stability, the US recommendation aims to strengthen public trust and international confidence in Pakistan’s financial management.
The 2025 Fiscal Transparency Report is a global assessment that evaluates the fiscal practices of 140 governments and entities. It examines whether countries release administrative budgets in a timely manner, disclose debt compliance (including state-owned enterprises), maintain independent audit agencies, and ensure sensitive spending like defense and intelligence – bound by legislation or civilian supervision.
Posted at Dawn on September 21, 2025
