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.