AGP to audit Covid-19 related expenditures

ISLAMABAD: The Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) on Thursday said that it has decided to audit the expenditures made on the country’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to sources, the AGP has plans to produce several short reports pertaining to Covid-19 expenditures in order to provide a timely input to the legislature and the executive regarding the government's drive against the deadly pandemic.

The Auditor General of Pakistan Javaid Jehangir on Thursday chaired a meeting to discuss the strategy pertaining to the audit of Covid-19 related expenditures. He stressed that all the field officers including Director General Audit (Climate Change and Environment) and Director General Social Safety Nets should act in a coordinated manner to produce quality audit reports regarding Covid-19 related expenditures.

The audit is expected to bring clarity regarding whether funds utilised for combating the coronavirus had been spent in a transparent and efficient manner.

It was decided in the meeting that audit officers will cover all the possible areas related to Covid-19 expenditures including procurement of goods and services, advertisements, storage, relief funds, quarantine centers, services by hospitals and public health institutions, testing and procurement and distribution of ration.

The AGP said that the use of new or existing Information Technology (IT) resources will make the audit more productive and result oriented.