Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; Revelation of serious financial irregularities during PTI tenure, question mark on Rs 72 billion

Audit report points out serious flaws in accounts of government expenditures, development funds and foreign loans for fiscal year 2024-25

Serious financial irregularities worth billions of rupees have been revealed during PTI's tenure in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during fiscal year 2024-25.

Serious flaws have been pointed out in accounts of government expenditures, development funds and foreign loans for fiscal year 2024-25. According to audit report, complete verification of Rs 72 billion 46 crore government expenditures in province could not be done.

According to audit report, Rs 104 billion 26 crore more than budget approved by provincial assembly was entered in SAP system. Entries more than approved budget have raised questions on transparency of provincial government's financial system. According to report, Rs 153 billion 68 crore development expenditures were shown in wrong accounting head. Showing development funds as current expenditures has revealed serious flaws in government financial statements.

Report also points out negative balance of Rs 39 billion 58 crore in Public Account, which shows payments more than receipts. Apart from this, accounting record of Rs 98 billion 89 crore foreign loans in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been found incomplete.

Similarly, complete details of receipts, repayments and grants of foreign loans are not available, while complete verification of payments of Rs 51 billion 85 crore in head of foreign loans and interest also could not be done. Serious objections have been raised by audit on these matters.

Report has revealed that record of internal loans of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has not been updated after 2017-18, while details of loans obtained from federal government have also not been updated after 2013-14. These flaws in record of loans raise questions on system of financial monitoring.

Moreover, additional entries of Rs 20 billion 20 crore have also surfaced in one head of provincial development budget. According to audit report, additional entries worth billions of rupees were also made in budget of health, education, police, highways and other departments.

Incomplete record of government expenditures and loans in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has raised important questions on financial monitoring and transparency of budget.