Fiscal discipline

Audit report debate focuses on spending, debt and work permit breaches

TDT | Manama

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Calls for stricter spending control, firmer governance, better revenue collection and quicker follow-through on audit findings shaped debate in Parliament yesterday as MPs took up the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee’s report on the National Audit Office’s 2024–2025 findings.

Opening the case for the committee, its chairman Ahmed Sabah Al Salloom said the 10 recommendations were meant to “double efforts to strengthen governance and control spending”.

He said 84.9pc of recommendations had been carried out or were under way, but added that “financial and administrative challenges still require follow-up and treatment”.

Meetings

Al Salloom told MPs the report, covering 81 government bodies, had been studied through a series of meetings with the bodies concerned, with legal and economic advice brought in before the committee settled on its final view.

The committee called for closer checks on project spending by ministries and public bodies, with actual outlays measured against approved sums.

It also urged the government to examine why spending on some projects remained low and to deal with that in a way that improves budget planning and the use of public funds.

Checks

It also pressed for stronger internal checks across ministries and public bodies, with penalties where breaches occur, and said repeated remarks from past audit reports should be dealt with in full after follow-up reviews found earlier recommendations still pending.

MPs were urged to weigh ministry replies to audit findings and decide ‘either to accept those replies, or use the oversight tools available to them’ against ministers answerable for breaches linked to their portfolios.

During yesterday’s sitting, Al Salloom said the report pointed to financial warning signs that needed close attention, including “a deficit of BD1.026 billion, public debt of BD19.3 billion, and a rise in debt service costs”.

The audit text bears that out.

Gap

It says the gap between state income and spending rose from BD774 million in 2023 to BD1.026 billion in 2024, while public debt stood at about BD19.3 billion by 31 December 2024 and interest payments climbed to BD945 million from BD843 million a year earlier.

He also pointed to borrowing outside the recorded public debt framework, spending above approved limits and returns due to the Treasury that were not transferred on time.

The audit says borrowing by some ministries and public bodies that was not included in the public debt balance recorded by the Ministry of Finance and National Economy came to about BD4.9 billion in 2024, against BD3.9 billion in 2023.

Spending

It also says recurrent spending overshot the approved 2024 budget by BD375 million.

During the debate, MP Zainab AbdulAmeer said the overspending recorded at the Ministry of Education should be seen “in a positive light” where it was linked to hiring Bahrainis and pushing ahead with replacement policies.

She also criticised delays by the Ministry of Works in carrying out service projects, including sewerage schemes, and said Bahraini workers were able to meet labour market needs while helping to cut costs.