Audit reveals serious financial irregularities in defence sector
The Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) has highlighted serious financial irregularities, non-transparent procurements and unauthorised expenditures within various formations of the defence services, calling on the relevant authorities to improve internal controls and initiate inquiries to fix responsibility. In its audit report on the accounts of Defence Services for the audit year 2023-24, the AGP published more than 300 pages of audit objections, including non-recoveries, over and advance payments, procurement-related irregularities, losses to the state and the non-production of records. The report noted that the Ministry of Defence receives a single-line budgetary grant, which is distributed among the Ministry of Defence Production, Services Headquarters, Inter-Services Organisations, and the Strategic Planning Division. Under the administrative control of the Ministry of Defence, the main job of the armed forces — the Army, Navy and Air Force — is to defend the country’s territorial integrity and assist the civil administration when required.