ISLAMABAD, NOV 30: One of the major reasons behind rising corruption in Pakistan is the weakness of the audit system. The mechanism for monitoring funds allocated to federal and provincial departments is almost nonexistent. Central and provincial institutions are facing a performance crisis, driven in part by the limited operational independence of the Auditor General. Internal audit systems within departments are also nearly absent, giving officers and staff a free hand to misuse public resources.
Well known business leader and former president of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce, Shahid Rashid Butt, said the audit and accountability framework in the country has been deliberately weakened. This, he said, allows the bureaucracy to openly abuse its authority, undermining both the protection of public resources and public trust. As a result, trillions of rupees at the federal and provincial levels fall prey to corruption every year.
He said the Public Finance Management Act has been reduced to a formality, as no department is willing to appoint a chief internal auditor. Due to the absence of internal checks, irregularities are detected only after financial damage has occurred, while enforcement of penalties is also negligible.
Shahid Rashid Butt said that despite constitutional autonomy, the Auditor General remains administratively subordinate to the Federal Secretariat and is answerable to the executive. Financial and administrative dependence has weakened the institution. More than 6,000 audit reports are produced annually, yet departments pay little attention to them, and the Public Accounts Committee’s performance is also well known.
He said either the Auditor General should be allowed to work independently and action should be taken on audit findings, because mere identification of issues is not enough, or the formality of compiling these reports should be ended entirely, as the process costs billions of rupees every year.
He added that strengthening the audit system is no longer a technical debate but a national necessity. Without meaningful reforms, public money will continue to disappear across sectors including energy, development, procurement, and subsidies. He warned that corruption directly raises household costs and increases businesses’ operational expenses, slowing investment and job creation. He stressed that Parliament must play a stronger role in enforcing audit recommendations so that systemic leakages can finally be plugged.
