DLP Report
PESHAWAR
Adviser to the Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Information and Public Relations Relief, Rehabilitation and Settlement Samar Haroon Bilour has expressed concern over billions of rupees in alleged financial irregularities and accounting discrepancies highlighted in the provincial audit report for the fiscal year 2024-25.
In a statement issued on Monday, she said the inability to verify expenditures worth billions of rupees from the provincial exchequer during the previous PTI government raised serious questions about financial discipline, transparency and accountability.
Referring to the audit report, Ms Bilour said expenditures amounting to Rs72.46 billion could not be fully verified, while additional entries worth Rs104.26 billion had been recorded beyond the budget approved by the Provincial Assembly.
She said the report had also pointed out that development expenditures amounting to Rs153.68 billion were incorrectly recorded under various accounting heads, while the Public Account showed a negative balance of Rs39.58 billion.
The adviser further noted that accounting records relating to external loans worth Rs98.89 billion were incomplete, while payments of Rs51.85 billion made against foreign loans and interest could not be fully verified. She said the failure to update records of provincial domestic loans since 2017-18 and loans obtained from the federal government since 2013-14 reflected weaknesses in the financial monitoring and accounting systems.
Ms Bilour also referred to additional entries of Rs20.20 billion in the development budget and further discrepancies in the budgets of key departments, including Health, Education, Police and Highways. She called for clear explanations and legal and financial justifications for these entries.
She said public money collected through taxes was a national trust and those responsible for managing it must account for its utilisation.
The adviser called for a transparent and impartial examination of all audit objections, saying responsibility should be fixed wherever irregularities were established and appropriate accountability measures taken.
She said protection of public resources, financial transparency and institutional accountability were essential for responsible governance and that no compromise should be made on these principles.
