PESHAWAR: A government audit has uncovered serious financial irregularities worth billions of rupees in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province during the 2024-25 fiscal year, raising questions about budget transparency and financial oversight, according to the audit report.
The report found that complete verification of Rs 72.46 billion in official expenditures could not be carried out. It also recorded Rs 104.26 billion in excess of the budget approved by the provincial assembly in the SAP system, saying the excess entries raised questions about the transparency of the provincial government’s financial system.
The audit report said Rs 153.68 billion in development expenditures were shown under incorrect accounting heads, revealing serious flaws in official financial statements. It said development funds were shown as current expenditures.
The report also found a negative balance of Rs 39.58 billion in the public account, indicating payments exceeding receipts.
Incomplete accounting records of Rs 98.89 billion in external loans were uncovered, and the report raised serious audit objections over the unavailability of complete details of external loan receipts, repayments and grants. Complete verification of Rs 51.85 billion in payments under foreign loans and interest could not be carried out, it said.
The report disclosed that the province’s internal debt record has not been updated since 2017-18 and that the record of loans obtained from the federal government has not been updated since 2013-14.
It also disclosed additional entries of Rs 20.20 billion under one head of the provincial development budget, along with additional entries worth billions of Rs in the budgets of the health, education, police, highways and other departments.
The incomplete records of official expenditures and loans raised important questions about financial oversight and budget transparency, the audit report said.
