A devastating federal audit has laid bare a systemic breakdown in Pakistan’s financial governance, revealing that a staggering 92% of supplementary grants—amounting to Rs3,177 billion—were spent without parliamentary approval during the fiscal year 2024-25. The findings, covering the audit year 2025-26, paint a picture of unchecked executive spending, dysfunctional internal oversight, and outright embezzlement of public funds.
Parliament Bypassed as Spending Surges
The Auditor General’s reports, shared with The News by a parliamentary source, indicate the government secured total supplementary grants of Rs3,454 billion. However, only a fraction received the constitutionally mandated nod from the legislature. This massive unapproved expenditure raises fundamental questions about compliance with Article 78 of the Constitution and the government’s respect for parliamentary sovereignty over the public purse.
The audit further highlights that Rs1,833 billion in supplementary grants were obtained for loan principal repayments without any proper assessment of actual requirements, leading to excess expenditure. In another breach, spending exceeded the final grant authorized by parliament by Rs187 billion.
Budgeting on a Wish List, Not a Needs AssessmentThe scrutiny extended to the core of the budgeting process itself. Federal entities sought a colossal Rs3,809 billion in budgetary allocations without conducting proper need assessments. The irony of this inflated demand was stark: 115 cost centers failed to utilize Rs87 billion of their allocations, which ultimately lapsed, while an additional Rs41 billion in supplementary grants remained unspent.Broken Controls and Missing Funds
The audit reports expose a crumbling internal control environment. Most federal entities lack functional internal audit units, and many have not appointed Chief Internal Auditors. This vacuum of oversight contributed directly to financial losses and irregularities.
The reports specifically flag two cases of embezzlement, misappropriation of public money, and fictitious payments. Additionally, 82 cases of pending recoveries and 78 instances of weak internal controls were identified. The Auditor General has recommended that cases involving serious embezzlement be referred to investigation agencies for immediate action.
Accounting Anarchy and Constitutional Violations
Beyond spending violations, the audit uncovered serious gaps in government accounting. These include the non-preparation of debt and losses reports, the failure to maintain fixed asset and liabilities registers, and missing General Provident Fund subscriptions in individual accounts.
Constitutional violations were also glaring. A sum of Rs7 billion was irregularly transferred from the Federal Consolidated Fund to the Public Account, contravening Article 78. Furthermore, Rs24 billion in unclaimed deposits from dormant accounts were not transferred to the government account as required.
The explosive findings are set to reignite fierce debate in the National Assembly over fiscal discipline, the credibility of the national budgeting process, and the effectiveness of accountability mechanisms that appear to have failed spectacularly.
