MPs reject state accounts and endorse 11 recommendations for audit reforms

TDT | Manama

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Eleven recommendations to improve oversight and control over public spending have been backed by Parliament, following a yearend audit that uncovered BD3.9 billion in unrecorded state borrowing and a budget gap that more than tripled in 12 months.

However, MPs stopped short of endorsing the government’s financial statements.

In yesterday’s session, they rejected the final accounts for 2023, the budget execution report, and a breakdown of ministerial fund transfers prepared by the Ministry of Finance.

The Financial and Economic Affairs Committee’s report, based on the National Audit Office’s 2024 review, was approved.

It sets out 11 proposals aimed at correcting long-standing failures in procurement, record-keeping and debt reporting.

The measures call for a clear shift in how ministries handle public funds.

Repeated violations

MP Maryam Al Dhaen described the report as “a clear plan that deserves to be followed” and said repeated violations had become routine.

“Some of the answers we receive are for show,” she told the chamber. “What’s needed is responsibility. Each agency, each person, must be held to account.”

She called for a public timetable to carry out the proposals, and for regular updates to Parliament on the steps taken.

Figure

Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, His Excellency Ghanim Al Buainain, told MPs that the government had already acted on more than 84 per cent of the audit’s findings. That figure, he said, had improved on the previous year.

A new digital system had made it easier to track progress, and closer contact between the Audit Office and government bodies had sped up responses.

He said 315 observations had been addressed, with 153 breaches reviewed internally. Two were referred to the ministerial legal committee. None were sent to the Public Prosecution.

Sharp verdict

MP Hassan Ibrahim gave a sharper verdict.

“The repeated breaches revealed in the report point to a structural shortcoming in financial and administrative oversight,” he told the chamber.

He cited BD223 million in overspending in 2022, uncollected public funds, and repeated failures in managing vehicles, stockpiles and contracts.

The lawmaker also noted that some ministries had hired foreign workers despite earlier pledges to limit hiring to Bahrainis.

Formal signing

In several cases, contracts were delayed by over a year or began without formal signing.

Ibrahim pointed to the size of the national debt, which reached BD17.9 billion by the end of 2023.

This figure equals roughly 131 per cent of GDP at constant prices. Interest payments alone totalled BD843 million.

“We’re dealing with billions in loans, some of which were never recorded. That should worry anyone in this room,” he said.

Action plan

He called on the government to publish a detailed action plan and to report regularly to Parliament.