The United States has urged Pakistan to increase civilian oversight of public finances, saying greater transparency over government spending is needed to improve fiscal management and accountability.
In its 2026 Fiscal Transparency Report on Pakistan, the US State Department said the country continued to lag in making key financial information public, including details of government debt and the budgets of military and intelligence agencies.
The report said military and intelligence budgets were not subject to adequate parliamentary or civilian public oversight. It also said Pakistan provided only limited public information on debt obligations, including debt held by major state owned enterprises.
The State Department further said Pakistan did not publish its executive budget proposal within a reasonable period, identifying this as another area requiring improvement.
The report recommended that Pakistan make its executive budget proposal publicly available on time, disclose detailed information on government debt including state owned enterprise debt, and subject military and intelligence budgets to parliamentary or civilian oversight.
The report also acknowledged several areas where Pakistan had made progress. It said the government made its enacted budget and year end report widely accessible to the public, including online, while publicly available budget documents provided a substantially complete picture of most planned government revenues and expenditures.
It also said Pakistan’s budget information was generally reliable and subject to audit by the country’s supreme audit institution, which the report said met international standards of independence. Audit reports were also made publicly available within a reasonable period.
Pakistan’s Response
Responding to the report, Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said Pakistan follows internationally established practices on fiscal transparency, budgeting and financial disclosure while operating within its constitutional, legal and regulatory framework.
He also pointed to Pakistan’s ongoing IMF program, saying its structural reforms and fiscal management measures had been recognized by the IMF and international credit rating agencies.
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