A delay in the audit process of state institutions has raised concerns for the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) Ajmal Gondal, who addressed the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Wednesday.
This development coincides with ongoing discussions between the IMF and Pakistan for the first biannual review of the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility, aimed at addressing governance and corruption issues.
During the meeting, AGP Gondal revealed that the IMF has expressed unease over approximately 600,000 pending audit paras. “The IMF has urged the early resolution of audit cases for institutions,” Gondal stated, noting that these unresolved paras relate to various ministries and government bodies.
He further highlighted that, despite parliamentary directives, no chief internal accountant has been appointed. “The financial audit system is flawed due to the failure to implement established rules,” he explained. “Secretaries and chief financial officers of institutions are not finalizing their audits. Only 15 institutions have chief financial officers, and none of them have a chief internal accountant.”
Gondal emphasized the absence of internal audit systems within institutions, which has exacerbated the issue. “The number of pending audit cases with the PAC has now exceeded 30,000,” he added.
In response, the PAC has requested detailed reports from ministries and institutions within one month.
Last August, the AGP had already voiced serious concerns about Pakistan’s worsening financial management. He pointed out that less than 4% of the over Rs38.67 trillion budget was allocated for socio-economic services. Additionally, around 93% of supplementary grants, totaling over Rs8 trillion, had not been approved by parliament and remained unutilized, representing a significant loss of public resources.
