News
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
PAC demands report on PIA’s overspending* Explanation demanded from PIA principal accounts officer over Rs 13.309bn loss
By Zeeshan Javaid
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Tuesday took notice of the Pakistan International Airlines’ (PIA) additional annual expenditure of Rs 1.18 billion, and demanded the submission of a detailed report at the main PAC meeting to be held next month.
The directive came as the PAC met under the chairmanship of Zahid Hamid to review the audit objections on the financial management of the Ministry of Defence and its subsidiary organisations like PIA, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the Airport Security Force (ASF) and others during 1990 to 1993.
PIA Chief Financial Officer Faisal Malik informed the committee that the airline faced a Rs 5.8 billion deficit during the first half (January-June) of 2010, while PIA had to put up with the annual loss of Rs 1 billion due to the Pakistani rupee’s devaluation.
Loss: Audit officials also requested the PAC to ask the PIA principal accounts officer to provide an explanation for the Rs 13.309 billion loss sustained by the airline in 2009.
Expressing concern over PIA’s financial management, the committee directed the Defence Ministry to ensure transparency in the airline’s financial matters. The PAC also directed the ministry to fix responsibility for the discrepancies and submit a report to the committee.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk