2022 Fiscal Transparency Report: Tajikistan

Government-by-Government Assessments: Tajikistan

During the review period, the government made significant progress by publishing an audit report of the entire, annual executed budget that contained substantive findings, recommendations, and narratives.  The government also made its executive budget proposal, enacted budget, and end-of-year report widely and easily accessible to the public, including online.  Information on debt obligations, except state-owned enterprise debt, was made public within a reasonable period.  The budget documents did not provide a substantially complete picture of the government’s planned expenditures.  Budget documents lacked detail regarding expenditures for ministries and agencies and did not identify allocations to, earnings from, or debt holdings of state-owned enterprises.  Not all major state-owned enterprises made audited financial statements publicly available.  The government did not maintain significant off-budget accounts.  While military expenditures were included in the budget, the intelligence budget was not.  The supreme audit institution met international standards of independence but did not effectively follow up on findings.  The government specified in law or regulation but did not appear to follow in practice the criteria and procedures for awarding natural resource extraction contracts and licenses.  Basic information on natural resource extraction awards was not publicly available.

Tajikistan’s fiscal transparency would be improved by:

• Making current information on state-owned enterprise debt obligations publicly available;
• Producing substantially complete and sufficiently detailed budget documents that include allocations to, earnings from, and debt holdings of state-owned enterprises;
• Making audited financial statements of major state-owned enterprises publicly available;
• Ensuring the supreme audit institution effectively follows up on findings;
• Following applicable laws and regulations in practice for awarding natural resource extraction contracts and licenses; and
• Making basic information on natural resource extraction awards publicly available.