According to the integrated financial report prepared by the Office of the Auditor General (OAG), the arrears amount has increased by a notable amount in the fiscal year 2021/22, which shows that the government is not sensitive to maintaining its own rule of fiscal discipline in the bureaucratic system.
The arrears of government offices stood at Rs 28.49 billion in the last fiscal year, which was Rs 3.23 billion more than the amount of the previous year.
Any financial transaction carried out without providing the required documents and fulfilling the processes is listed under arrears. Large amount of arrears expresses higher possibilities of corruption in the government bodies concerned.
The government records show that the non-transparent expenses by the government authorities have been increasing every year. In FY 2020/21, the arrear of the federal government stood at Rs 25.26 billion, which was 121.62 percent more than the amount of Rs 11.40 billion in the previous year.
Of the amounts in arrears last year, the government needs to regularize Rs 9.40 billion while Rs 1.12 billion is recorded under the amount to be recovered. In FY 2020/21, the amounts under the headings were Rs 6.95 billion and Rs 591.90 million respectively. Similarly, the advance amount received by the government officials that had crossed the maturity date was Rs 19.96 billion, up from Rs 17.71 billion.
The arrears of local governments were added with Rs 10.64 billion, while those of provinces were Rs 3.05 million. Ministry-wise, the arrear of the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport stood the largest at Rs 10.64 billion in FY 2021/22.
