‘No audit objection to forest company’

LAHORE: Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) found no audit objection to the financial affairs of South Punjab Forest Company (SPFC) during the year 2017-18.

A press statement issued by the company here Friday stated that after completion of South Punjab Forest Company (SPFC)’s first complete financial year of operations, SPFC voluntarily wrote a letter in November 2017 to the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) to conduct the audit of SPFC, on which the office of the AGP conducted SPFC’s audit in December 2017, covering the time period from inception until the latest Financial Year ending on June 30, 2017.It said the audit was done in a comprehensive manner and no audit paras are pending in the audit report for the period. Moreover, the financial statements of SPFC were also audited by the external auditors (an independent firm of chartered accountants) as required under Companies Act, 2017.

Tahir Rasheed, CEO, SPFC, said that ‘The fact that the AGP has no audit para on SPFC signifies that we have ensured transparency in our processes. The organisation has set in place various safety valves and adheres to the rules and regulations set by the government. We will continue to maintain these standards in future as well and ensure that there is no burden on government’. The auditors found all procurement according to Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules 2014 and all financial matters according to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), the press release said, adding the AGP observed that SPFC is compliant with the Corporate Governance Rules 2013 issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) for Public Sector Companies, which clearly highlights that the organisation strictly adheres to transparency in its processes.