18th Amendment, SC decisions: Aurangzeb advocates for AGP Act revision

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance, Muhammad Aurangzeb acknowledged the need for revising Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) Act in the backdrop of 18th constitutional amendment, decisions of the Supreme Court and international best practices.

The finance minister visited the office of the Auditor-General of Pakistan on Monday, where he was apprised about the challenges being faced by the department in managing the huge multiple tasks as enshrined in the constitution.

The Auditor-General of Pakistan welcomed the minister who visited the Department of the Auditor-General of Pakistan (DAGP), the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) of Pakistan.

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The Director General (Policy), office of the Auditor-General of Pakistan gave a detailed presentation on the working of the Department of the Auditor-General of Pakistan covering its mandate and scope, interaction with the stakeholders, the internal governance and integrity mechanism and the impact of audit activity on strengthening the internal controls, stabilisation of economy and benefits for the citizen of Pakistan.

He was apprised about the audit reports which are professionally written and contain audit recommendations, are based on independently and apolitically executed audit programmes to assist the parliament and provincial legislatures in promoting transparency, accountability and good governance.

To make auditing a collaborative exercise, all PAOs, CSOs and even the general public were approached for their inputs for next year audit plans.

The finance minister took keen interest in the professional work carried out by the Department of the Auditor-General of Pakistan and emphasised upon reforms in the paradigm of Department Accounts Committee, making the principal accounting officers pay heed to the audit recommendations timely for promotion of transparency and good governance.

He acknowledged the need of revising AGP Act in the backdrop of 18th constitutional amendment, decisions of the Supreme Court and international best practices.

Furthermore, he assured his full support for establishing offices of DG Receipts Audit at provincial level to fulfill AGP’s constitutional obligation.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024