Auditor General Report Reveals Poor Financial Management

Jul 1 , 2023


A new audit finding from 131 public offices shows that the overdue receivables have reached a new high of 15 billion Br. The figure shows a 15pc surge from last year and a staggering 114pc increase from a couple of years ago. The Federal Auditor General, Meseret Damte, who presented the audit report to Parliament last week, disclosed that the Ministry of Health takes a quarter of the amount with 4.5 billion Br. The expense reimbursement amount from the 86 federal offices accounts for only 0.65pc of the expected figure which stands at 6.88 billion Br. "It reached a new low," said Meseret, recalling last year's re-paid amount of 1.02 billion Br. The report also revealed that from the 164 audited offices, the auditor general categorised 19 as unqualified where six of them could not provide sufficient documents. According to Meseret, the number showed a 51pc decline from last year. The audit identified unutilized budgets, illegitimate procurements, and unaccounted expenditures worth of 2.95 billion Br. Tsehay Bekele, a member of the Standing Committee for Public Expenditure Administration & Regulation, enquired if solutions have been thought through to improve the institutions with stark financial gaps. Meseret said the Office of Auditor General will take measures in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice. She noted that even though there have been marked improvements, a lot more work needs to be done in managing their finances.


Radar

Exchange Ponders Adding Salt to its Floor

The Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) is considering adding salt to its list as the 24th tradable commodity. Executives are currently conducting feasibility studies and preparing sales contracts. Last week, Ali Muhammed, deputy administrator of the Afar Regional State, and Ali Behani, Head of the Regional Mining Bureau, visited the ECX headquarters in the Mexico area. They said regional salt miners and processors are not adequately compensated for their production, with hopes that the EC...


Radar

Public Service Sector Receives Data Privacy Training

Staff members from the National Bank of Ethiopia, the Ministry of Trade & Regional Integration and the Ministry of Revenues received a three-day training on data privacy and protection over the past week. The training aimed to equip participants with the skills of proper data breach notification procedures, minimising risk of exposure, and secure data transfer practices to safeguard personal data during transmission. It was given by the Business Environment and Investment Climate (BEI...


Radar

Unleashing Millions for Micro-Entrepreneurs with Digital Loans

A 100 million-dollar program to scale up six financial institutions to facilitate digital non-collateral loans to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) was launched last week. Drawing experience from the first digital non-collateral lending platform dubbed Michu powered by Cooperative Bank of Oromia (COOP), the program coupled with Amhara, Bunna, Enat, Wegagen and ZamZam banks. Last year, Coop dispersed 946 million Br loans to farmers through cooperative unions and MSMEs, reaching m...


Back
WhatsApp
Telegram
Email