LAHORE, Feb 6: The federal government intends to appoint chief financial officers (CFOs) in all federal ministries and divisions for strengthening internal audit controls and fostering prudent utilization of funds.

This was stated by auditor-general of Pakistan Mohammad Younus Khan at a function arranged by the Institute of Internal Auditors here on Thursday.

He said President Gen Pervez Musharraf had agreed in principle to the proposal of appointing CFOs, and a joint meeting of the federal finance ministry, AG Office and establishment division is scheduled to be held shortly to finalize its implementation.

He said the relevant laws would have to be amended in order to make way for the appointment of CFOs. He said the appointment of “CFOs will help the ministries and divisions take sound decisions with regard to project spending”.

He said it was necessary to improve the internal audit because the poor (audit) reporting in the past had earned the country bad name. Besides, he said, weaknesses in internal audit had resulted in wrong decisions and poor execution of projects.

Punjab accountant-general Wazir Ahmad Qureishi and former AGP Manzoor Husain also spoke on the occasion.

In response to a question regarding the audit of the PTCL, the AGP said its audit was at present conducted by private commercial auditors as required by the law. However, there was “another view that the AGP should conduct the corporation’s audit because it is a public sector organization”. He said the controversy in this regard would soon be removed.