Seventeen audit reports covering FY2007-11 revealed irregularities concerning approximately Tk6,196cr of public money at different ministries and public sector banks, the nation’s top auditor announced yesterday.
State-owned banks (SOBs) accounted for the greatest amount of irregularities, by sector, involving Tk3,063cr, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of Bangladesh Masud Ahmed said.
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) topped the list of single entities, by amount, of public money involved in irregularities.
According to the audit report, BTRC licensing certificate irregularities involved Tk2,628cr between FY2001-10.
BTRC provided Warid International a licence to enter the telecoms market without upholding the Bangladesh Telecommunication Act 2010, according to the report.
Similarly, the regulatory commission did not take action against illegal VOIP businesses, the report added.
The audit reports show that irregularities at the SOBs and 22 commercial banks regulated by Bangladesh Bank, most of which have weak internal control systems, involved the approval of loans in violation of Bangladesh Bank regulations and lending requirements.
The CAG urged the approval of the draft of an audit act which had been proposed to the government two years ago.
He said: “Audit activities are still being conducted according to the regulations laid down by the Enam Committee in 1983.”
Comptroller and Auditor General Masud was speaking at the first ever presentation of audit reports at a press conference at the CAG office in the capital’s Kakrail area.
The office of the CAG submitted the audit reports to the president in June this year. They were presented to parliament in September.
At the press briefing, the CAG said the audit of the income and expenditure of Tk134,907cr of the revenue budget, and Tk65,145cr fixed for the development budget in FY2013-14, had already been completed.
The CAG, when asked about transparency during audits, replied that “zero tolerance” is shown towards allegations of impropriety and that such cases are dealt with according to bureaucratic procedures.
He referred to a recent incident of bribe-taking by auditors from a bank during an audit in Naryanganj in March this year. The office of the CAG had taken action against them, he said.
