The Auditor General’s FY2025-26 report highlights weak financial controls, unauthorized expenditures, procurement violations, and failures in accountability across dozens of federal ministries and autonomous institutions.
Pakistan’s federal financial oversight has come under intense scrutiny after the Auditor General’s Audit Report for fiscal year 2025-26 uncovered widespread irregularities involving trillions of rupees, exposing systemic governance failures across ministries, divisions, and autonomous organizations.
The 399-page audit report documented dozens of audit observations against federal institutions. The Higher Education Commission recorded the highest number of objections with 31, followed by the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (18), the Ministry of National Food Security (17), the Ministry of Science and Technology (16), and the National Heritage and Culture Division (12).
Among the report’s most significant findings was the Rs75 billion Sustainable Development Goals Achievement Programme (SAP), where the Cabinet Division failed to obtain mandatory progress reports and completion certificates, preventing auditors from verifying whether development funds were fairly and effectively utilized.
Auditors also reported that the Economic Affairs Division failed to recover Rs1.927 trillion in loans, interest, and exchange risk liabilities from state-owned enterprises by June 30, 2025. Despite the enforcement of the Toshakhana Act 2024, implementation rules have yet to be finalized, raising further concerns about accountability.
The education sector faced serious criticism after auditors found that 298 acres allocated to Quaid-i-Azam University remain under illegal occupation nearly five decades later. The university was also faulted for failing to deposit Rs177 million in withheld income tax and for investing scholarship funds instead of spending them for students.
Multiple institutions were cited for questionable investments, procurement violations, and weak financial management. The Centre of Excellence in Molecular Biology invested Rs500 million in unused funds rather than returning them to the government, while the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority failed to recover Rs87 million in fees and penalties.
The Anti-Narcotics Force faced objections over a Rs1.2 billion helicopter overhaul conducted without open competition. Meanwhile, the Karachi Dock Labour Board was criticized for failing to recover Rs433 million in cess charges, posting cumulative losses of Rs1.9 billion, and making irregular payments worth hundreds of millions of rupees.
Additional findings included Rs1.1 billion in alleged vaccine procurement losses at the Ministry of National Health Services, Rs59 billion in estimated losses at the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority due to delayed surcharge collections, and Rs45 billion in unaudited financial statements under the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
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