The US State Department has identified gaps in Uzbekistan's fiscal transparency.

**The US State Department has identified gaps in Uzbekistan's fiscal transparency**

Uzbekistan failed to meet the US State Department's minimum fiscal transparency requirements, as outlined in the 2026 Fiscal Transparency Report. The main concerns relate to insufficient disclosure of information on public debt, the financial activities of large state-owned enterprises, the terms of sovereign loans, and public procurement contracts.

Nevertheless, the US Department noted positive aspects of the Uzbek authorities' actions. In particular, the draft and approved versions of the budget, as well as the final report on its execution, were published in a timely manner. These documents generally reflected planned government revenues and expenditures. Furthermore, significant off-budget accounts were disclosed.

Uzbekistan's Supreme Audit Institution also received a positive assessment. The State Department found it to be compliant with international standards of independence, and its audits covered the execution of the annual budget and contained specific conclusions and recommendations.

However, despite these positive developments, comprehensive information on government debt obligations, including those of large state-owned enterprises, was not publicly available. The terms of sovereign loans to foreign borrowers, detailed information on natural resource revenues, and data on public procurement contracts were not published.

Therefore, the State Department recommended that Uzbekistan include information on the revenues and financing of large state-owned enterprises in budget documents, fully disclose debt obligations and the terms of sovereign loans, and publish public procurement contracts.

The State Department's review, in addition to Uzbekistan, included 139 countries and the Palestinian Authority. Of these, 73 governments met the minimum requirements, while 67 did not. Among the latter group, 14 countries demonstrated significant progress, but Uzbekistan was not included in this group.

The State Department emphasized that insufficient fiscal transparency alone does not prove corruption, just as a high level of openness does not guarantee its absence. It was previously reported that Uzbekistan's public and publicly guaranteed debt had stabilized at around 30% of GDP, but private external debt continued to grow.