Kathmandu. Speaker Dol Prasad Aryal has said recurrence of arrears every year was a matter of grave concern from the point of view of fiscal discipline, good governance and public accountability.

In his address to the 28th anniversary function of the Office of the Auditor General here today, Minister Khatiwada said that arrears of Rs 88.09 billion were found in the fiscal year 2081/82 alone. He said that it has reached Rs 755.17 billion.

“Arrears cannot be a matter of pride for any organization. However, according to the 63rd annual report of the Auditor General, the arrears of Rs 88.09 billion have been found in 2081 and 2082 while the updated arrears have reached Rs 755.17 billion. The recurrence of the same type of arrears every year is a matter of concern from the point of view of fiscal discipline and good governance. ’

On the occasion, Speaker Aryal said the Constitution of Nepal has given an important constitutional responsibility to the Office of the Auditor General to ensure transparency and accountability in public financial management.

According to Articles 240, 241 and 294 of the constitution, an annual report would be submitted to the President after carrying out audit on the basis of regularity, austerity, work efficiency, effectiveness and relevance.

He said all bodies of the state and citizens have high expectations from the Office of the Auditor General as it would point out issues for improvement through independent evaluation of acquisition, mobilization and utilization of public resources. Stating that the Office has been continuously internalizing the values of impartiality, independence, professionalism, transparency and accountability, he expressed the belief that these principles would be further strengthened in the days ahead.

On the occasion, Speaker Aryal said that although it was a challenging task to complete the auditing of around 6,000 public bodies and offices every year on time, they deserve praise for fulfilling this responsibility successfully.

He pointed out the need of timely revision of the auditing system along with the change in the form of public financial management, development of information technology, risk areas and citizens’ expectations. “Development of risk-based, technology-friendly and result-oriented auditing system is the need of the hour,” he said.

“It is the common responsibility of the federal, provincial and local level governments, accountable officers and officials concerned to ensure timely settlement, necessary audit and improvement in financial management so that there is no arrears in the future,” he said.

Stating that the use of modern information technology, data analysis and artificial intelligence in public auditing was growing rapidly across the world, he pointed out the need of paying special attention to the effective use of computer-aided auditing tools, development of skilled human resources and institutional capacity enhancement in Nepal.

He expressed his confidence that the quality, reliability and consistency of auditing with international standards would be further strengthened with the effective implementation of Government Audit Standards and related guidelines.