ISLAMABAD: The Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP), in its audit report for the financial year 2023–24, has flagged serious financial mismanagement, irregularities, and violations of public finance rules across several federal ministries and divisions.
The report highlights financial irregularities, losses and other issues involving over Rs1,100 billion, revealing a disturbing pattern of fiscal indiscipline, unauthorised payments, and weak internal controls within key government entities.
Among the most damaging findings is the import of 3.59 million tons of wheat despite the presence of surplus domestic stocks, causing an estimated loss of over Rs300 billion and leading to market oversupply and economic hardship for local farmers.
The report lists a range of critical observations, including expenditures without budget approval by several ministries in direct violation of fiscal regulations; overpayments to Karachi Port Trust employees who received excessive allowances, adding an unnecessary burden on the public exchequer; unauthorized payments in Civil Armed Forces, procurement irregularities, revealing serious lapses in financial compliance and oversight; misuse of public funds in regulatory authorities – overpayments of salaries and allowances were made to officials of the Private Educational Institutes Regulatory Authority, amounting to unauthorised disbursements; irregularities in Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) – the audit identified unauthorised payments, irregular contracts, and financial mismanagement within the PCB, calling for recovery of misused funds; encroachment on public land – cases of illegal occupation of lands belonging to the Evacuee Trust Property Board, Jammu and Kashmir state properties, and the Karachi Port Trust were reported, indicating poor asset management and oversight; tax evasion and non-compliance – instances of non-deduction of taxes on various payments were flagged, resulting in revenue losses and violation of tax laws.
In addition to operational irregularities, the AGP documented: five cases of embezzlement and fictitious payments totaling Rs1.69 billion; 107 recovery cases amounting to Rs689.48 billion, recommended for corrective action; and 39 instances of weak internal controls involving Rs160.39 billion.
Dozens of other audit paras highlighting internal control failures and procedural violations have been included in the Management of Financial Discipline and Accountability Compilation (MFDAC) but were not presented before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) due to their lesser material significance.
To address the widespread financial mismanagement, the AGP has issued several key recommendations: no government expenditure should be incurred without prior parliamentary approval; supplementary grants must be issued only after proper assessment and within the financial year; serious embezzlement cases should be forwarded to investigative agencies; all unspent balances and retained receipts must be deposited in the government treasury; internal controls and internal audits must be strengthened across all entities; government departments must produce all required records to auditors without delay; a proper fixed assets register should be maintained, with annual physical verification.
The AGP’s audit for 2023–24 paints a troubling picture of public financial governance in Pakistan. With irregularities involving hundreds of billions of rupees, the report underscores the urgent need for structural reform, stronger oversight, and enforcement of accountability mechanisms to safeguard public funds and restore public trust in federal institutions.
Government spokesman when approached said that these audit reports have to be discussed in DAC, which is chaired by PAO (Principal Accounting Officer). Most of the audit observations are settled at DAC level and are recommended to PAC for settlement and such recommendations are accepted by PAC as it is.
“So the so-called irregularities are not final by any means. The PAC has already directed all PAOs to hold DACs on monthly bases so that maximum audit observations are settled at DAC level,” said the spokesman.
