Where does Pakistan’s public money go?

Pakistan's public finances face a problem that goes far beyond a shortage of money. Despite enormous budget allocations and billions in development spending, basic public services remain inadequate, while audit reports continue to expose billions of rupees in financial irregularities, questionable spending and missing public funds.

The real question, therefore, is not simply how much money the government collects or allocates, but where that money goes, how it is spent and who is held accountable. If federal and provincial governments managed public funds transparently, with proper planning and in the public interest, ordinary Pakistanis might not have to struggle so much for education, healthcare, employment and even basic necessities.

In the latest episode of On My Radar, Kamran Khan examines how public money is being spent across Pakistan, drawing on audit findings from Punjab, Sindh and federal institutions. From development funds and government loans to welfare payments and missing wheat stocks, the findings point to a troubling pattern of financial mismanagement and weak accountability.

Consider Sindh, where the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party has allocated Rs6.3 trillion for development projects over the past 19 years. Yet the province's condition raises serious questions about what this enormous spending has delivered. Instead of visible progress, many parts of Sindh appear to reflect decades of neglect, with Karachi, the country's largest city, struggling with broken roads, overflowing sewers, mounting garbage, drinking water shortages and an inadequate public transport system.

When trillions of rupees are spent on development but citizens continue to lack basic amenities, the issue is clearly not just the size of the budget. It is the management of public money and the absence of accountability for how it is used.

The latest findings from Punjab offer another troubling illustration. As highlighted in the previous episode of On My RadarOn My Radar, the Auditor General of Pakistan's report exposed serious irregularities in the province's public finances. Its executive summary put the amount at approximately Rs5.25 billion, but adding the figures listed across different chapters brings the total to more than Rs46 billion.

The report identified loans worth millions and billions of rupees extended by the Punjab government to companies that had failed to repay even a single rupee of their previous borrowings for years. In other cases, scholarships announced for deserving female students did not reach their intended recipients, while irregularities were reported in the salaries and welfare funds of security and sanitation workers.

At Cholistan University, changes involving officials authorized to sign cheques reportedly resulted in an additional Rs410 million being withdrawn. Another finding raised questions over the purchase of an anaesthetic injection for Rs950 when its stated price was Rs447, casting a shadow over the government's claims of improved governance.

Perhaps even more concerning is the limited coverage of the audit. Of more than 5,000 government offices in Punjab, only around 200 were examined. The findings emerged from an audit covering just 19% of the province's total expenditure, leaving the remaining 81% outside its scope. What might lie within the unaudited portion remains unknown.

Despite these findings, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has maintained that not a single rupee has been misappropriated in any project under her government.

But Punjab is hardly the only province facing questions over the handling of public funds. Sindh's record presents its own serious concerns.

One of the latest examples involves the provincial Irrigation Department. The Auditor General's report for the 2024-25 financial year identified Rs23.95 billion in financial irregularities and violations of rules. Its 54 audit observations raised questions over the alleged unlawful award of contracts, procurement practices and payment procedures. The report also recommended strict legal action against the department's secretary.

Karachi's Yellow Line Bus Rapid Transit project provides another example of the concerns surrounding public spending in Sindh. More than Rs8.58 billion was reportedly paid in advance before construction work began. An inquiry by the chief minister's inspection team also identified an alleged loss of Rs1.25 billion.

The project faced further scrutiny from the World Bank, after which the Sindh government had to deposit Rs7.42 billion from its own funds into the project's account to replace money allegedly lost through corruption.

The province's wheat procurement and storage system has also repeatedly come under scrutiny. In 2019, reports emerged that three million tons of government wheat in Sindh had been eaten by rats. The allegations surrounding wheat stocks have since taken different forms, including claims that soil was mixed into sacks to make up their weight and that records of stored wheat went missing.

According to the latest audit findings cited in the report, wheat worth Rs48 billion in Sindh remains unaccounted for. Stocks valued at Rs30 billion are missing from warehouses, while another Rs18 billion worth of wheat has reportedly deteriorated. The methods may change, but questions over the management of the province's public wheat stocks continue.

And these are only a few examples. From the Sindh Building Control Authority to health, education, transport, energy, finance, agriculture, local government and development agencies, allegations of corruption, financial irregularities and administrative failures span a wide range of provincial institutions.

Nor is this problem confined to provincial governments. Federal institutions have also come under scrutiny for their handling of public money.

The Benazir Income Support Programme, established to provide financial assistance to the country's poorest and most vulnerable families, recorded irregularities exceeding Rs25.7 billion in its 2024-25 audit.

The report found that 12,078 government employees, pensioners and their family members received more than Rs515.7 million in assistance despite being ineligible. Payments were also made to people who had travelled abroad, while duplicate registrations and payments were identified in educational stipends intended for deserving children.

The broader picture of federal spending is equally concerning. An Auditor General's report for the 2024-25 audit year identified more than Rs375 trillion in irregularities, financial mismanagement and wastage of public resources.

According to the report, only 13% of federal funds were allocated to public welfare, while debt repayments and interest payments consumed a substantial share of government expenditure. Other concerns included supplementary grants issued without parliamentary approval, budget allocations made without assessing actual requirements and delays in returning unspent funds.

Taken together, these findings point to a fundamental problem with how Pakistan manages its public finances. The national treasury belongs to the people. It is not the personal property of a government, ministry, department, minister or public official.

Every rupee must be accounted for, from the moment it is allocated in the budget to the award of contracts, release of payments and completion of development projects. Without transparency, proper oversight and accountability, even the largest budgets cannot deliver meaningful improvements in people's lives.

Pakistan does not simply need bigger budgets or more development announcements. It needs to ensure that every rupee of public money is spent honestly, efficiently and in the public interest.

Otherwise, ordinary citizens will continue paying taxes, bearing the burden of mounting national debt and struggling for basic services while the holes in the public purse keep growing.