| Kippreport.com

Mind the budget

January 11, 2010 9:55 by P.K. Abdul Ghafour

The General Auditing Bureau (GAB) has accused some government departments of excess spending, delaying vital projects and negligence in collecting public revenues. It also pointed out that some state-owned companies were making big losses.

Speaking at a reception at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh, Osama Faqeeh, chairman of the bureau, told Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah that some government departments were not cooperating with GAB, despite the king’s instructions.

He commended King Abdullah for instructing all government departments to implement the proposals made by GAB in its annual report for 2006. “This reflects your determination to carry on reforms in all areas with the objective of improving performance of government departments, increasing their effectiveness and deepening the values of trust, fairness and sincerity at work,” he said.

Faqeeh also praised the king for his efforts to fight all forms of corruption and punish negligent government officials. He said the bureau has been doing its duty with objectivity and without any bias in order to translate the government’s financial and administrative reforms into realistic working programs.

“We have started implementing the second strategic plan this year, coping with speedy developments in financial auditing and performance monitoring,” Faqeeh said. “We aim to achieve better use of public money, following economic methods and to ensure a balanced development of the Kingdom.”

He said GAB’s annual report for 2008 included results of auditing financial statements and budgets of government departments. “It also contains financial and other violations, the main reasons for them and how to tackle them as well as the major obstacles facing the bureau in doing its duty in a professional and independent manner.”

Pages: 1 2

Tags: accusation, budget, GAB, General Auditing Bureau, government, Saudi Arabia