General Financial Rules 2025: New rules declare Finance Division’s nod mandatory for land, revenue deals

ISLAMABAD: The government has issued General Financial Rules 2025 to ban grants of land, assignments of revenues and other concessions without the assent of the Finance Division under the Public Finance Management Act.

The Finance Division has issued rules stating that no administrative division, department, or authority can issue orders without its prior consent if such orders involve granting land, assigning revenue, or providing concessions, leases, licenses, or rights related to minerals, forests, waterpower or other similar privileges. This requirement also applies to any decisions that could result in the relinquishment of revenue. Essentially, the Finance Division’s approval is necessary for any actions that could impact government revenue or assets.

The competent authority has the discretion to waive the recovery of an amount disallowed by an Audit Officer or otherwise found to have been overpaid to a government servant. This can happen if the government servant drew the amount under a reasonable belief that they were entitled to it, or if enforcing recovery would cause undue hardship. Additionally, in cases involving disallowances of emoluments like pay, the waiver can be considered if made within one year of the payment date. Upon receiving the waiver order, the Director General Audit will withdraw the objection. No authority can spend public money or incur liabilities without prior sanction from the government or a delegated authority, and the expenditure must be included in the authorized grants and appropriations for the year.