The U.S. Department of State has released the 2025 Fiscal Transparency Report, as required by section 7031(b)(2) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2024, and continued under the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2025. The report outlines the processes used to assess fiscal transparency among foreign governments that receive U.S. assistance.
The assessment covers governments and entities first identified in the 2014 Fiscal Transparency Report. It reviews their compliance with minimum fiscal transparency requirements during the period from January 1 to December 31, 2024. The report also notes whether these governments made significant progress toward meeting those requirements.
According to the Department of State, “the minimum fiscal transparency requirements include ensuring key budget documents are publicly available, substantially complete, and generally reliable.” For 2025, these criteria have been strengthened to specify that “supreme audit institution independence includes financial and managerial autonomy and the right to disseminate reports publicly,” as well as assessing whether governments publish information on public procurement contracts.
“Fiscal transparency is a critical element of effective public financial management, helps build market confidence, and underpins economic sustainability. It fosters greater government accountability by providing a window into government budgets, helping citizens hold their leadership accountable, and facilitating better public debate,” according to the report.
The annual review process is intended to ensure that U.S. taxpayer funds are used appropriately when assisting foreign governments. The report also provides recommendations for steps that governments can take to improve fiscal transparency in both the short and long term.
Additionally, the Fiscal Transparency Report aims to strengthen public financial management in recipient countries by reducing corruption risks and promoting international standards in sectors such as extractive industries. It also seeks to reduce financial crimes like money laundering and terrorist financing by requiring debt data publication.
The findings may change annually due to legal requirements for updating standards or changes in government performance or new information received by the Department of State. As stated in the report: “A finding that a government ‘does not meet the minimum fiscal transparency requirements’ does not necessarily mean there is significant corruption in the government. Similarly, a finding that a government ‘meets the minimum fiscal transparency requirements’ does not necessarily reflect a low level of corruption.”
For more details on specific assessments or recommendations for individual countries or entities included in this year’s review period, readers can access the full report through this link: click here.