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Amid a wide range of criticism about the growing irregularities in the state-owned financial sector, the audit claims, however, increased sharply to Tk 1,89,157 core during July-March period of Fiscal year 2021.
The audit claims encompass banks, financial institutions, insurance, stock market and other financial units, thereby indicating the incapacity of the organisations to rein in the endemic corruptions and irregularities, according to experts.
As per the latest annual report of the Financial Institutions Division (FID) under the Ministry of Finance, in the first nine months of FY21, the number of audit claims declined by 12 per cent to 31,100 but the amount of claim increased by around 19 per cent to Tk 1,89,157 crore over the previous financial year. In FY20, the amount claimed also increased by 8 per cent to Tk 1,59,470 crore as against Tk 1,48,002 crore in FY19.
Masud Ahmed, former Comptroller and Auditors General (CAG) told The Business Post that, the audit claim means that there have been irregularities as reflected by the audit.
“If these claims are settled, the financial loss incurred by the government as a result of that irregularity will be recovered,” he said.
The increase in the amount of audit claims in the Financial Institutions Division is not just an indication that the irregularities are on the rise, he said, adding that on the contrary, the amount of budget increases every year, so is the expenditure of the government, and hat is why the amount of money in the audit claims is rising.
FID Joint Secretary Mrityunjoy Saha told The Business Post that the audit claims are made to the government-controlled financial institutions.
In the case of banks and non-bank financial institutions, the claims are usually loan-centric, and “I have not seen any audit objections about the capital market,” said the official.
According to an audit report of CAG for FY14 on Financial Institutions Division, the purpose of such audits is to identify and prevent financial irregularities.
Besides, to take action against the amount of loss incurred by the government is to bring the matter to the notice of the appropriate authority.
It is to be mentioned that Sonali Bank has lost Tk 4,500 crore in the Hallmark scandal. Besides, about Tk 4,000 crore had been laundered from Basic Bank. Bismillah Group, Anontex and Crescent Group had loans worth Tk 11,000 crore forged from Janata Bank.
Mrityunjoy Saha mentioned that the audit claim also raises the issue of the government institutes implementing various projects or spending more than the stipulated amount or non-compliance of any official.
The FID’s annual report does not reflect how much money the government was able to recover from the audit claims. Asked about the rate of audit claim settlement Mrityunjoy Saha told The Business Post that, in the case of banks, the audit claims’ settlement usually takes a little long time.
“It has been seen many times that claims have come but the loan has been rescheduled, then we have nothing to do.”
In this context, former CAG Masud Ahmed said if the initiative is taken, recovery can be quickened; it is possible to increase the collection by convening a meeting of the parliamentary committee and forcing the persons or organisations concerned to be present there.
“I served as a CAG from 2014 to 2018. During my tenure, there was a record recovery of audit claims after settlements,” added Masud.
