More than 16.3 billion Birr in unreconciled outstanding accounts has been uncovered across 138 federal government institutions and 18 regional branches, according to the Federal Office of the Auditor General. This critical financial gap was officially disclosed in a comprehensive 65-page audit report for the 2017 Ethiopian budget year presented to the Parliament today. Although the figure reflects a significant 50 percent reduction compared to last year’s staggering 32.9 billion Birr, the failure to settle these financial accounts on time remains a major area of concern for national treasury management.
Under Council of Ministers Regulation No. 190/2002 and federal financial directives, advance payments allocated for per diems, transport, and operational activities must be fully cleared within seven days of an employee completing their assignment. The Auditor General’s report underscored that the persistent delay in reconciling these accounts directly causes the wastage of public resources. Consequently, the oversight body has strictly ordered institutions to collect all recoverable funds immediately and formally write off debts that are legally verified as uncollectible.
An age analysis of the outstanding 16.3 billion Birr reveals deep-rooted, long-term financial delays within the federal apparatus. The report indicates that 4.6 billion Birr has been outstanding for up to one year, while a substantial 6.6 billion Birr ranges between one and five years old. Furthermore, 4.8 billion Birr has remained uncollected for five to ten years, 154 million Birr stretches beyond a decade, and the exact age of over 5 million Birr in arrears remains completely unknown.
The report also highlighted the top institutional debtors, led by the Ministry of Health with 3.4 billion Birr in uncollected funds, followed by Wachemo University at 1.3 billion Birr. Other heavily affected institutions include the Ministry of Urban Development and Infrastructure (982 million Birr), the Ministry of Irrigation and Lowlands (958 million Birr), and Bahir Dar University (926 million Birr). Additionally, out of 21.5 billion Birr flagged for irregular payments in the 2016 budget year and prior, only 31 percent has been successfully recovered, leaving 15 billion Birr unreturned.
On a positive note, several bodies showed strong compliance, with Werabe University executing 100 percent corrective action, followed by the Kombolcha Customs Branch at 99 percent and Airport Customs at 94 percent. Conversely, severe documentation gaps persist; out of 2.9 billion Birr in undocumented transactions across 35 offices from 2016 and earlier, supporting documents were provided for just 1.8 percent (51 million Birr), leaving 98.2 percent completely unaccounted for, with the Ministry of Education reconciling a mere 1.3 percent of its required documentation.