2023 Fiscal Transparency Report: Laos

Government-by-Government Assessments: Laos

During the review period, the government made its executive budget proposal publicly available online, but not within a reasonable period.  It did not publish its enacted budget or end-of-year report.  The completeness and reliability of budget information could not be evaluated due to the lack of publicly available documents.  Limited information on debt obligations was publicly available, but not for major state-owned enterprise debt.  Publicly available budget documents were not prepared according to internationally accepted principles.  Military and intelligence budgets were not subject to parliamentary or civilian public oversight.  The supreme audit institution did not meet international standards of independence.  It reviewed only a portion of the government’s accounts and did not make its reports publicly available.  The government specified in law or regulation the criteria and procedures for awarding natural resource extraction contracts and licenses.  A moratorium on natural resource extraction awards has been in effect since 2012.

Laos’ fiscal transparency would be improved by:

• Making its enacted budget and end-of-year report publicly available within a reasonable period;
• Preparing budget documents according to internationally accepted principles;
• Including in budget documents allocations to, earnings from, and debt information of major state-owned enterprises;
• Publishing comprehensive information on debt obligations;
• Subjecting military and intelligence budgets to parliamentary or civilian public oversight; and
• Ensuring the supreme audit institution meets international standards of independence, audits the entire annual executed budget, and publishes its reports within a reasonable period.