- By Ajeet Kumar
- Tue, 16 Sep 2025 12:37 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
In a major "typo" blunder in Pakistan, its auditor general submitted a report contained the illogical figure of Rs376 trillion, which is 3.5 times more than the country’s total gross domestic product (GDP), Dawn reported on Tuesday. According to the report, the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) released ‘Consolidated Audit Report of Federal Government for the Audit Year 2024-25’ last month. The figures implied financial anomalies far beyond the size of Pakistan’s kitty, sparking disbelief even within government circles.
Although, the AGP was removed from the post, the outgoing auditor general, Muhammad Ajmal Gondal, had repeatedly defended the contents of the report despite massive criticism and media scrutiny. Even when the department conceded its blunder, he refused to admit the "mistake".
"Trillion" typo
A note appended to the introduction of the fresh report says: “The executive summary of the original version of the Consolidated Audit Report uploaded on the [AGP’s website] had a few typos. At two places, the word ‘trillion’ had been used instead of ‘billion’. The actual amount after rectification is Rs.9.769 trillion.”
The revised amount of Rs9.769tr, still a staggering sum, constitutes nearly two-thirds of the federal budget for FY2023-24. The revised report explains that the irregularities span multiple years and include out-of-budget items such as circular debt, land disputes, and corporate accounts.
This new version was uploaded to the AGP office’s official website last week.
When asked why the AGP office chose to initially defend the report which contained the incorrect figures, an official privy to the matter claimed that this seemed to have become “a matter of credibility as well as ego of the department”, according to a report by Dawn.
'Desi' mindset in preparing audit report: Official
According to a senior official in the Punjab government, audits in Pakistan are conducted under the obsolete and typical ‘desi’ mindset of just creating more and more audit paras having no solid evidence of corruption. Such audits are usually not specific to irregularities as per the actual budget expenditures, thus revealing exaggerated figures to put pressure on the departments.
“If the auditor doesn’t find receipt of any expense during the audit, he considers it misappropriation of funds even though the department-under audit, proves making such expense through other solid evidences. In certain cases, the auditor even declares the whole procurement process suspicious, multiplying it several times with the actual expenses," said on official.
“In my whole service, I have never seen any auditor specific to auditing the actual budget expenditures. Certain portions of the revenue targets, which are not achieved, are also considered as irregularities,” added the official.