Kathmandu, May 15: Total arrears of the country have reached Rs 755 billion. It is stated in the Annual Report of the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) for the fiscal year 2081/82 BS submitted to President Ramchandra Paudel today.
The Office of the Auditor General, also the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) of Nepal, audited accounts worth Rs 9484.5 billion of the federal, provincial, and local levels, organized institutions, and other agencies and committees designated by federal law in the fiscal year 2081/82.
According to Auditor General Toyam Raya, the accounts and related statements of 179 offices and agencies/bodies were not submitted due to the Uprising and events on September 8-9 last year so financial audits of Rs 147.9 billion were not conducted.
The audit revealed arrears of theoretical nature amounting to Rs Rs 88.09 billion requiring various policy and systemic improvements.
He informed that federal government offices have arrears of Rs 53.49 billion, provincial offices Rs 5.23 billion, local level offices Rs 19.05 billion, and committees and other institutions Rs 10.32 billion.
From the examination of past arrears and settlements carried out this year, an amount equivalent to Rs 14.63 billion has been recovered.
This year audits were conducted for 3,050 federal ministries and agencies amounting to Rs 2917.95 billion.
Audits of 1,124 provincial ministries and agencies totaling Rs 320.30 billion, and local level amounting to Rs 1100.92 billion have been completed.
Likewise, audits totaling to Rs 9484.5 billion, including that of 577 committees and other agencies totaling Rs 447.77 billion, and of 44 institutions designated by federal law for 54 fiscal years amounting to Rs 4688.96 billion, were undertaken, the Auditor General informed.
The Ministry of Finance has been found with the highest arrears which accounts for 70.37 percent, the OAG Report stated.
Likewise, the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport ranks second followed by the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperative and Poverty Alleviation, the Ministry of Forests and Environment and the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology.
