ISLAMABAD: Pakistan significantly improved its budget transparency over the past two years, with its score rising from 30 in 2023 to 45 out of 100 in 2025, according to the latest Open Budget Survey (OBS) by the International Budget Partnership (IBP).
The Open Budget Survey (OBS) is the world’s only independent, comparative assessment of budget transparency, public participation, and formal oversight of national budgets.
Conducted by the International Budget Partnership (IBP), a global network that promotes transparent and accountable government financial systems, the survey evaluates how governments provide the public with information about how they raise and spend public money.
The adviser to Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad, in a statement on his X, described the improvement as a 50 percent increase in just two years, saying it represents a "significant and independently validated improvement in fiscal openness, public access, and accountability.”
Pakistan matches global average
The IBP survey gives Pakistan a transparency score of 45, exactly matching the global average. Pakistan is ahead of India, which scored 44; Sri Lanka, 43; and Bangladesh, 37, but trails Nepal at 52. The Asia-Pacific regional average stands at 49.
The survey assesses the availability, timeliness, and comprehensiveness of eight key budget documents through 109 indicators. The IBP says that a score of 61 or above indicates that a country is providing sufficient budget information for meaningful public understanding and informed debate.
Source: International Budget Partnership (IBP)
Year-end reporting improves
The IBP identifies two specific improvements behind Pakistan’s higher score.
It says that Pakistan published its year-end report online in a timely manner and increased the information provided in the executive's budget proposal.
The executive's budget proposal received a score of 57, while the enacted budget scored 50. The Year-End Report scored 52, and the Audit Report 48.
Government sees measurable progress
Schehzad said that the latest figures demonstrated that recommendations highlighted in the 2023 survey had been acted upon.
He further said that the direction was clear: “More timely reporting, more complete information, wider consultation, better public access, greater participation, and stronger accountability.”
Source: International Budget Partnership (IBP)
The adviser said Pakistan would continue working toward more timely, comprehensive, and accessible fiscal information, with stronger public and parliamentary engagement.