Cabinet approves audit exemption for IB’s secret expenditures

ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet has granted approval for audit exemption certificates to cover the secret expenditures of the Intelligence Bureau (IB).

According to sources, the Cabinet Division summary regarding audit exemption for the IB’s Secret Service Expenditure received approval from the federal cabinet through a circulation.

It has been reported that the federal cabinet previously granted audit exemption for the IB’s Secret Service Expenditure in May 2023.

Sources said that the secret service fund is a critical component of intelligence agency operations and is commonly exempted from audit procedures in international practices.

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To formalize this exemption, the Parliament (Majlis-e-Shoora) amended the Auditor General’s (Functions, Powers, and Terms and Conditions of Service) Ordinance, 2001 (XXXIII of 2001) through the Finance Act, 2013.

This amendment included a proviso under section 17 of the ordinance stating that “expenditures of secret service agencies certified by the federal government as relating to national security shall be exempted from audit scrutiny by the Auditor-General.”

The Cabinet Division informed the prime minister that the administrative audit of IB’s secret service expenditure for the financial year 2022-2023 was conducted by the Cabinet Division from February 20 to February 21, 2024. The issuance of the audit exemption Certificate for the Financial Year 2022-2023 to the Accountant General Pakistan Revenue (AGPR) awaits cabinet approval.

In light of these developments, the Cabinet Division had proposed the granting of an audit exemption certificate for the IB’s secret service fund by the federal cabinet.