How foreign governments handle U.S. Aid

67 Governments Fail US Transparency Test: New Release

The State Department’s annual review of how foreign governments handle public money found that most of those assessed cleared the bar and a large minority did not.

The report is the closest thing Washington has to a report card on where US aid dollars can actually be traced. What did it say?

State of play

The tally is stark. Of 139 governments and the Palestinian Authority, 73 met the minimum fiscal transparency standard and 67 did not. Of the 67 that fell short, 14 made significant progress toward the minimum over the past year. The review is broad. The assessment covers governments that receive US assistance, judging whether the public can see how that money is raised and spent.

By the numbers

The split is close. Of the 140 assessed, 73 cleared the bar and 67 fell short, a near-even divide. Most failers are stuck. Only 14 of the 67 are improving, leaving 53 that showed no significant progress toward the minimum.

Foreign aid is under the microscope. With the administration paring overseas spending, a failure of transparency is now a direct argument against writing the next check.

Transparency deters graft. Open books make it harder to divert funds, so the standard is a first line of defense against corruption in recipient states. It exposes where aid disappears.

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