DOHA: The government has placed all institutions and projects that receive its financing and state investments made overseas via the sovereign wealth fund under its audit agency, the State Audit Bureau (SAB).
There are no holy cows anymore and no institution, project or investment where the state is involved will any longer be exempt from state audit, the SAB chief said. There were some institutions launching huge projects and were exempt from state audit earlier because they were doing fast-track projects.
However, the Bureau has recently received directives from the government removing those privileges, Ibrahim bin Hashim Al Sada, in-charge of the SAB has said.
He said even the high-profile Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the state sovereign fund, has been placed under the Bureau.
All investments made and being made by the QIA are under state audit now. “I will soon be meeting the CEO of the QIA to discuss their investment plans,” Al Sada said.
“And when our audit team is through with its job, we will be making recommendations to the QIA about the aspects of risks with regard to their investment.”
Similarly, all Qatari embassies and the medical offices therein (that take care of ailing citizens’ treatment overseas) have been brought under the SAB purview.
“This reflects the strong desire of the government to pre-empt any possibility of corruption in state expenditure and investments,” said Al Sada.
All development projects valued at QR500,000 and above are also subject to strict audit. All projects need SAB’s approval before being awarded to contractors.
On tip-offs, the SAB also conducts surprise audits and experience suggests that at least 70 percent of complaints are genuine.
However, no action is taken against those providing tip-offs or filing complaints found to be false, said the official in an interview published by Al Sharq today.
He said the law that regulates SAB is being amended and the Bureau is to be assigned a much larger role. “We will be additionally entrusted with performance and administrative monitoring of state entities.”
The Peninsula
