ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Finance has introduced the Public Assets Management Guidelines 2025, making it mandatory for the ministries and federal departments to create comprehensive asset registers, prepare annual asset management plans and report their holdings to a centralized digital database.
The initiative aims to strengthen public financial management and improve oversight of government-owned assets.
The guidelines apply to all forms of public assets other than financial assets, such as bonds and stocks, and to current assets, such as inventory and supplies, which are treated separately.
The guidelines, prepared by the Ministry of Finance in collaboration with the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives and the Office of the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), aim to bring government assets under a unified management framework aligned with international accounting standards.
The MOF shall ensure that MDAS, with some exceptions, use these guidelines to continuously improve their asset management policies and plans and take a “whole of life” approach to the ownership of assets under their care, control, and areas of responsibility.
A transformation of public assets management will be achieved by documenting all public assets, creating a central asset register, and adopting asset management practices that maintain and extend the value of the assets for continuous operations at the best possible levels.
The initiative seeks to address a long-standing weakness in Pakistan’s public sector, where government-owned land, buildings, infrastructure, machinery, vehicles and other fixed assets have often been managed through fragmented record-keeping systems with limited visibility at the federal level.
Under the new framework, every ministry, division, attached department, and subordinate office will be required to maintain a detailed departmental asset register while simultaneously feeding information into a central asset register maintained by the CGA through the Financial Accounting and Budgeting System (FABS).
The guidelines cover fixed assets valued at Rs 1 million or above, including land, buildings, infrastructure, machinery, transport assets, computer equipment, software, and other intangible assets. Financial assets such as stocks and bonds, as well as inventories and consumable stores, remain outside the scope of the framework.
The move is intended to shift the government from merely recording purchases to managing assets throughout their entire lifecycle—from acquisition and maintenance to depreciation, transfer and eventual disposal.
Every government entity will also be required to prepare an annual asset management plan detailing proposed acquisitions, repair and maintenance costs, disposal of obsolete assets, and expenditures on asset security. These plans will become part of the annual budget process, allowing the Finance Ministry to scrutinize asset-related spending before approving budget allocations.
The Controller General of Accounts has been assigned the responsibility of maintaining the central asset register, issuing reporting standards, monitoring compliance and publishing an annual report on federal government assets. Reporting agencies will have to submit quarterly asset statements and immediately notify the CGA of any material changes in their asset portfolios.
The guidelines further require each asset to be assigned a unique identification number and recorded either at historical cost or revalued amount in accordance with International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). Depreciation will generally follow the straight-line method, while asset valuation will be undertaken only where technically necessary.
To improve accountability, principal accounting officers will be made directly responsible for safeguarding government assets, ensuring regular maintenance, conducting annual physical verification, and implementing internal controls against misuse, theft, fraud, and operational losses.
The document also introduces stricter procedures for asset disposal. Before disposing of any government asset, departments will have to assess residual value, decommissioning costs, service delivery implications and legal requirements under relevant laws, including the Public Finance Management Act, PPRA rules and the Privatization Ordinance.
The State-owned enterprises that already comply with internationally accepted accounting standards and have received unqualified audit opinions during the previous two years will enjoy partial exemption. However, they will still be required to submit prescribed asset information for inclusion in the central register.
The Finance Ministry has also empowered itself to monitor implementation through periodic reviews and has reserved the authority to suspend the release of funds to agencies failing to comply with the new reporting requirements.
The guidelines will become effective after approval by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC), as the first comprehensive federal framework for systematic management of Pakistan’s public assets and a significant step towards greater transparency, accountability and evidence-based fiscal decision-making.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
Comments