Military and intelligence budgets are not subject to adequate parliamentary or civilian public oversight, US State Department’s 2025 Fiscal Transparency Report
Pervaiz Anwar, Daily Dawn, Dawn TV Report
Washington: The US has urged Pakistan to bring its defense and intelligence budgets under parliamentary or civilian public oversight, calling it an important step towards improving fiscal accountability and transparency.
The recommendation was made in the US State Department’s 2025 Fiscal Transparency Report, released on Friday, an annual report that examines budgeting processes around the world and looks at how governments publish, audit and manage public funds.
The report said about Pakistan that ‘military and intelligence budgets are not under adequate parliamentary or civilian public oversight’. According to the report, the most important step that Pakistan can take to improve financial transparency is to bring the budgets of military and intelligence agencies under the purview of parliamentary or civilian oversight.
The report also asked the government to publish budget proposals promptly so that they can be debated at the public and parliamentary levels. According to the report, ‘the government did not publish its executive budget proposal promptly’.
Regarding debts, the report said that the government provided limited information to the public about debt obligations, especially large debts of government agencies. In this regard, it has been recommended that ‘the government should publish details of debts, including debts of government agencies’.
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