PAC concerned over wastage of funds by ministries, depts

ISLAMABAD: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Thursday expressed concern over the poor budget planning in ministries and departments, saying funds of billions of rupees were not used annually and were wasted due to untimely surrender.

It was noted that supplementary grants were more than double of the initially allocated grants.

Chaired by Junaid Akbar Khan, the committee reviewed the audit paras related to the Ministry of Finance for the Financial Years 2022-23 and 2023-24.

Examining the issue of the Ministry of Finance’s budget lapse of Rs15.36 billion in FY2022-23, the committee expressed serious concerns over the lapse of funds due to the poor financial management.

In response to a question, Finance Secretary Imdadullah Bosal said funds were released on a quarterly basis to maintain financial discipline. He said the ministries were required to surrender the remaining budget by May 15 every year.

He told the committee that the Ministry of Finance determined the exchange rate by keeping in mind the details provided by the State Bank, and the budget was prepared on this basis.

The secretary finance was of the view that the principal accounting officer of every ministry and departments was responsible for the budget. The PAC members said lapse of Rs804 billion indicated incompetence.

The secretary finance told the committee that Rs1.20 billion lapsed due to the poor planning by the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Committee member Syed Naveed Qamar remarked, “You could have called the KP finance minister by May 15 and asked whether funds were to be used or not.” He said whatever the relationship between the federation and the provincial government of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, there should be coordination in financial matters.

The issue of giving honorarium to the government employees working during the budget was also taken up in the PAC meeting. Audit officials told the committee that the finance ministry gave four honorariums of Rs240 million against rules in FY2022-23 without cabinet’s approval.

The secretary finance told the committee that the finance ministry’s committee decided on the honorarium after reviewing the performance of employees. He said the employees worked extra for three to four months during the budget. He said the ministry took the new honorarium policy to the Economic Coordination Committee in 2022 and this policy was approved by the cabinet. The committee also examined the Regional Directorate National Savings Centers, Karachi, regarding non-recovery of losses due to robbery and embezzlement.

The interesting audit paras examined in the committee meeting and audit officials told the committee about a robbery and embezzlement of Rs23.3 million in the National Savings Center Karachi region. Audit officials told the committee that Rs7.3 million had been recovered.

Syed Naveed Qamar questioned that if the money had been recovered, then the committee should be told how it was recovered from the robbers. Junaid Akbar Khan asked, “Tell us this also how to recover the money taken by the robbers.”

Meanwhile, the committee chairman announced three more sub-committees of the PAC. The convener of one sub-committee will be Tariq Fazal Chaudhry. The members include Sanaullah Khan Mastikhel, Rana Qasim Noon and Hina Rabbani Khar. The convener of the second committee is Syed Naveed Qamar. The members include Shibli Faraz, Shazra Mansab and Moin Amir Pirzada. The convener of the third committee will be Malik Amir Dogar and members include Shazia Marri, Riaz Fatyana and Afnanullah Khan.

Meanwhile, the Public Accounts Committee sought progress report from the National Accountability Bureau and Federal Investigation Agency on cases sent by it during five years.