US asks Pakistan to subject military, intelligence budgets to public oversight

Washington: The US on Tuesday asked Pakistan to improve fiscal transparency by subjecting military and intelligence budgets to public oversight and disclosing information on government debt obligations.

The Fiscal Transparency Report-2026, released by the Department of State, also flagged that Pakistan had not published its executive budget proposal within a reasonable period.

Also read: PM Modi, Trump will work out Russian oil-related 100 per cent tariff issue, says US official


"The government made only limited information on debt obligations, including major state-owned enterprise debt, publicly available," the report said.

The report describes how the United States deployed foreign assistance resources to support fiscal transparency during the review period.

"Annual reviews of the fiscal transparency of governments that receive US assistance help ensure US taxpayer funds are used appropriately and provide opportunities to champion fiscal transparency in conversations with other governments," the report said.

It also makes specific recommendations of short- and long-term steps governments can take to improve fiscal transparency, and identifies benchmarks for measuring progress.

"During the review period, the government made its enacted budget and end-of-year report widely and easily accessible to the public, including online. It did not publish its executive budget proposal within a reasonable period," the report said.

The military and intelligence budgets were not subject to adequate parliamentary or civilian public oversight, it said.

The report suggested steps that Pakistan could take to improve fiscal transparency such as making its executive budget proposal publicly available within a reasonable period.

Also read: Hormuz to remain closed unless US meets Iran's conditions, Iranian security council says

The report asked Pakistan to disclose detailed information on government debt obligations, including for state-owned enterprises; and subject the military and intelligence agencies' budgets to parliamentary or civilian public oversight.

It said publicly available budget documents provided a substantially complete picture of most of the government's planned expenditures and revenues, including natural resource revenues.

The report said the information in the budget was considered generally reliable and subject to audit by the supreme audit institution, which met international standards of independence.

Its audit reports were made publicly available within a reasonable period and provided substantive findings, the report said.

The government specified in law or regulation, and appeared to follow in practice, the criteria and procedures for awarding natural resource extraction contracts and licenses, the report said.

The government made basic information on natural resource extraction awards publicly available, it said.

The sovereign wealth fund had a sound legal framework, and the government published accessible information on public procurement contracts, the report said.