Amman, March 11 (Petra) -- The Lower House of Parliament on Wednesday discussed the recommendations of its Finance Committee regarding the 73rd annual report of the Audit Bureau for 2024, during a session chaired by Speaker Mazen Qadi and attended by Prime Minister Jafar Hassan and members of the government team.

During the session, which was partly chaired by First Deputy Speaker Khamis Atiyeh, the House heard the Finance Committee’s report on the Audit Bureau’s findings, presented by the committee’s rapporteur, MP Mohammad Bustangi. The Speaker allocated three minutes for each MP to present remarks during the deliberations.

Bustangi said the committee issued its recommendations after holding 36 meetings to review the report, underlining the importance of safeguarding the Audit Bureau’s independence and providing it with the resources required to carry out its oversight mandate in line with international auditing standards and best practices.

He explained that the committee’s report covered several key areas, including an analysis of the Audit Bureau’s outputs and post-audit procedures, the results of evaluating the efficiency of internal audit units in entities subject to its oversight, observations on the final accounts for the 2024 fiscal year, and the committee’s decisions regarding oversight findings contained in the bureau’s report.

Bustangi said the analysis of the final accounts on both the revenue and expenditure sides revealed discrepancies between projected estimates and actual performance. He attributed the gap in public revenue projections, particularly tax revenues, to optimistic growth assumptions, in addition to the economic repercussions of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip and its continued violations during 2024.

He noted that the government is now more closely aligned with actual economic indicators, particularly those related to public consumption and the factors affecting it, while working to mitigate their impact on citizens. He added that government efforts to stimulate economic activity and ease pressures on affected sectors and social groups represent a positive step acknowledged by the committee.

Regarding current public expenditures, Bustangi said assumptions related to public revenues, particularly tax revenues, recorded a deviation of 11.6 percent. This was reflected in current expenditure ratios, which showed a deviation of 2.6 percent and affected the civil service budget by approximately JD164.7 million. The shortfall impacted the filling of vacancies, reduced allocations for goods and services, and contributed to delays in payments and a decline in medicine quantities, despite improvements in inventory management.

On capital expenditures, he said the implementation rate reached 67.6 percent.

The committee recommended that the Ministry of Finance refrain from approving transfers between projects unless it is certain that projects have met tendering requirements.

Bustangi added that 60 audit findings, comprising 451 items, were corrected, representing 35.3 percent of the total oversight findings, and the committee decided to close these cases in accordance with established procedures.

He said 11 oversight findings, representing 6.5 percent of the total, involved confirmed cases of misappropriation of public funds and were referred to the judiciary.

Another 13 findings, accounting for 7.6 percent of the total, involved suspected corruption requiring further investigation, which the committee decided to refer to the Integrity and Anti-Corruption Commission.

Regarding irregularities involving bonuses, incentives, overtime payments, or allowances granted in violation of regulations, Bustangi said the committee recommended initiating recovery procedures. These cases totaled 45 findings, representing 26.5 percent of the overall oversight findings, with a combined value of approximately JD2.463 million.

He added that 41 audit findings, representing 24 percent of the total, involved financial amounts related to contracts, obligations, or outstanding debts owed by various entities, for which the committee recommended collection measures.

Bustangi also pointed to observations related to the use and management of government vehicles. Despite 82 percent of vehicles being linked to the electronic tracking system, the committee recorded regulatory violations in transportation management, with traffic violations exceeding 17,000. He stressed the need to enforce administrative and financial penalties for improper allocation, violations, and misuse of government vehicles.

//Petra// AJ