PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor’s adviser on information and public relations Samar Haroon Bilour on Monday expressed serious concern over the revelation of billions of rupees of irregularitiesand accounting discrepancies in the provincial financial system, as highlighted in the audit report for fiscal year 2024-25.
In a statement issued here on Monday, she said that the inability to fully verify billions of rupees in expenditures from the provincial exchequer during the PTI government was a matter of grave concern.
She said that according to the audit report, government expenditures amounting to Rs72.46 billion could not be fully verified, while additional entries amounting to Rs104.26 billion were also recorded beyond the budget approved by the provincial assembly. She said that these discrepancies required clear and satisfactory explanations.
Ms Bilour said that the report had also identified Rs153.68 billion in development expenditures incorrectly recorded under various accounting heads, along with a negative balance of Rs39.58 billion in the Public Account, adding that the findings raised serious questions about financial discipline, transparency and accountability.
She pointed out that accounting records of external loans amounting to Rs98.89 billion were incomplete, while payments of Rs51.85 billion against foreign loans and interest could not be fully verified.
Similarly, the failure to update records of provincial domestic loans since 2017-18 and loans obtained from the federal government since 2013-14 pointed to signif-icant weaknesses in the financial monitoring system, she said.
The governor’s adviser said that in addition to additional entries amounting to Rs20.20 billion in the development budget, further additional entries worth billions of rupees had also been identified in the budgets of key departments, including health, education, police and highways.
She emphasised that the reasons for these entries, along with their legal and financial justifications, must be clearly established.
Ms Bilour stated that every rupee collected through public taxes was a nationaltrust and that those entrusted with managing public funds must provide a complete account of their utilisation.
She called for a transparent and impartial examination of all audit objections, emphasising that wherever irregularities were established, responsibility must be fixed and accountability ensured.
She stated that safeguarding public resources, ensuring financial transparency and strengthening institutional accountability were fundamental requirements of responsible governance, and that no compromise should be made on these principles.