What Happened: The AGP’s report reveals significant financial mismanagement and procurement irregularities within the defence services, urging for improved oversight and accountability.
What you need to know: The Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) has uncovered major financial irregularities and lack of transparency in the defence services’ expenditures, calling for improved internal controls and inquiries. The audit report for 2023-24, spanning over 300 pages, highlights issues such as unapproved spending, procurement irregularities, and missing records.
What more: It revealed that the Ministry of Defence, which received a budget of Rs 1.592 trillion for 2022-23, had poor compliance with audit objections and Public Accounts Committee (PAC) directives. The report found violations in procurement processes, including splitting contracts to avoid transparent bidding and not following required advertisement procedures.
Also: Recommendations include holding inquiries to fix responsibility and regularizing expenditures, but these have yet to be implemented.