ISLAMABAD: Federal audit authorities have held the Economic Affairs Division (EAD), which deals with foreign loans and grants, responsible for losing out on a major grant of over Rs 53 billion during fiscal year 2008-09.
According to the 2009-10 audit report of the EAD, the failure of the division to finalise the disbursement procedure cost the country grants of over Rs 53 billion.
The report says per Rules of Business 1973, the EAD is assigned the responsibility to negotiate, coordinate and monitor the assistance from foreign donors to Pakistan.
During the review of the EAD’s status report of 2008-09 on grants disbursement, audit officials observed that agreements pertaining grants of Rs 53 billion had been closed on or before June 30, 2009, without any disbursement from the donors concerned.
Audit noted that the negotiation, coordination and monitoring mechanism within the EAD was not working effectively. “The country is losing grants while its dependence on interest-bearing foreign loans is on the rise,” the report said.
“Similar paragraph was printed in the Audit Report 2008-09 and it was agreed by Departmental Accounts Committee on April 15, 2009 that disbursements should be pursued vigorously by project authorities as well as EAD and monitoring system strengthened. However, the situation remained unchanged at the close of 2008-09,” the report added.
