On August 11, the U.S. Department of State released its annual 2026 Fiscal Transparency Report. Based on evaluations covering the 2025 fiscal year, Uzbekistan was placed among 67 governments that failed to meet the minimum standards for budget transparency. The U.S. agency noted that the country made no significant progress compared to the previous assessment period.
The Department of State reviewed a total of 139 governments alongside the Palestinian Authority, finding that 73 met the minimum benchmarks. Out of the 67 nations that fell short, 14 demonstrated significant improvement. Uzbekistan, however, was not included in this advancing group.
During the review period, the government made its executive budget proposal, enacted budget, and end-of-year report publicly available within a reasonable period. Publicly available budget documents provided a substantially complete picture of the government’s planned expenditures and revenues, but the government did not disclose complete information on government debt obligations including from major state-owned enterprises.
The government did not disclose the terms and conditions of sovereign loans made to foreign borrowers. Budget documents broke down expenditures by ministry and by funds to support executive offices, and the government disclosed all significant off-budget accounts. The government subjected military and intelligence budgets to parliamentary or civilian public oversight. Detailed information on natural resource revenue was not publicly available. The supreme audit institution met international standards of independence. Audits covered the entire annual executed budget and contained substantive findings and recommendations.
The government specified in law or regulation the criteria and procedures for awarding natural resource extraction contracts or licenses, followed those regulations in practice, and made basic information on natural resource extraction awards publicly available. The government’s sovereign wealth fund had a sound legal framework and disclosed its source of funding and general approach to withdrawals. The government did not publish accessible information on public procurement contracts.
Steps Uzbekistan could take to improve fiscal transparency include:
- Including in budget documents allocations to and earnings from major state-owned enterprises;
- Disclosing complete information on debt obligations, including for state-owned enterprises;
- Disclosing the terms and conditions of sovereign loans made to foreign borrowers; and
- Publishing information on public procurement contracts.
The financial transparency landscape across Central Asia remains mixed. While Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan successfully met the minimum baseline requirements, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan joined Uzbekistan on the list of nations that failed to pass the evaluation.
In the previous year’s report, Uzbekistan was credited with making significant progress due to its newly instituted disclosure of extra-budgetary accounts. Although that benchmark was sustained in the 2026 cycle, a combination of tightened global criteria and unresolved deficiencies regarding national debt and public procurement kept the country from advancing into the compliant category.
This annual audit is a mandatory congressional directive under foreign appropriations legislation. Its core objective is to monitor how U.S. foreign aid is utilized, mitigate institutional corruption risks, and help cultivate a more predictable environment for international commerce. According to the Department of State, fiscal transparency is essential for bolstering market confidence, simplifying national debt management, and eliminating opaque financial schemes—particularly within resource-extractive industries.
While landing on the non-compliant list does not trigger an automatic suspension of American foreign assistance, the findings are actively weighed during funding allocation reviews and directly influence how international financial institutions and private investors perceive the country's sovereign risk.
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