Comptroller and Auditor General of Bangladesh
Supreme Audit Institution of Bangladesh
Comptroller and Auditor General of Bangladesh
Supreme Audit Institution of Bangladesh
What We Do
Compliance audit deals with the responsibility of the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (OCAG) of Bangladesh to audit whether the activities of public sector entities are in accordance with the relevant laws, regulations and authorities that govern such entities. This involves reporting on the degree to which the audited entity is accountable for its actions and exercises good public governance. More specifically, these elements may involve auditing to what extent the audited entity follows rules, laws and regulation, budgetary resolutions, policy, established codes, or agreed upon terms, such as the terms of a contract or the terms of a funding agreement.
The objective, scope and nature of a particular compliance audit depend on a number of factors, including the mandate and constitutional role of the OCAG, as well as laws and regulations that are relevant to the audited entity. However, in general, the objective of the compliance auditing is to enable the OCAG to report to the appropriate bodies on the audited entity’s compliance with a particular set of criteria. Such criteria may be derived from relevant financial reporting frameworks, laws, regulations, parliamentary decisions, terms of contract agreements, or may be other criteria deemed by the auditor to be suitable criteria.
Areas of Compliance/Financial Audit:
- Audit against provision of funds to ascertain whether the money shown as expenditure in the accounts were authorized for the purpose for which they were spent.
- Audit against rules and regulation to see that the expenditure incurred was in conformity with the laws, rules and regulations framed to regulate the procedure for expending public money.
- Audit of sanctions to expenditure to see that every item of expenditure was done with the approval of the competent authority in the government for expending the public money.
- Propriety audit which extends beyond scrutinizing the mere formality of expenditure to its wisdom and economy and to bring to light cases of improper expenditure or waste of public money.
- While conducting the audit of receipts of the government, the Comptroller and Auditor General satisfies him that the rules and procedures ensure that assessment, collection and allocation of revenue are done in accordance with the law and there is no leakage of revenue which legally should come to government.
Performance Audit has been incorporated in the audit portfolio of the Office of the Comptroller & Auditor General of Bangladesh [OCAG] since 1999. The OCAG realizes that in Bangladesh, where resource constraint is a major issue and a significant amount of public expenditure is financed by public debt, an independent evaluation of the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which public resources have been used is essential. Therefore, Performance Audit was introduced by OCAG in addition to Financial and Compliance Audits for ensuring accountability of the executive to the Parliament and ultimately to the taxpayers for optimal utilization of public resources.
The Constitution of the Peoples’ Republic of Bangladesh provides OCAG with the mandate to perform Performance Audits. The mandate of the CAG, to carry out all audits, is derived from Article 128 of the Constitution which provides the CAG with discretionary power in deciding how, what and when to audit.
Moreover, the Public Accounts Committee [PAC] of the 5th Parliament expressed its concern in 1998 for greater accountability and requested the Auditor General to conduct Performance Audits alongside annual financial and compliance audits.
Performance Audit Activities in OCAG
Performance Audit was first piloted by OCAG in 1999 in response to the demand of the PAC. A Performance Audit Cell was created and four Pilot Audits were carried out by the Cell with officials who had under gone extensive trainings in the relevant fields. The reports were finalized in January 2002 and were submitted to Parliament. The reports are:
- Performance Audit on Printing, Publication and Distribution of Text Books
- Performance Audit on the Power Distribution System of Dhaka Electricity Supply Authority [DESA]
- Performance Audit of the Industrial Parks of Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation [BSCIC]
- Performance Audit on the Health Care Services of the Chittagong Medical College Hospital
After the successful piloting of Performance Audit in Bangladesh, OCAG conducted performance audits regularly through the nine Audit Directorates.
Then in 2005 a Performance Audit Directorate was established to coordinate performance audit activities of OCAG. The Organogram of the Performance Audit Directorate is given below:
The main responsibility assigned to the Performance Audit Directorate is the enhancement of performance audit capability of OCAG by:
- Providing advice to other Audit Directorates
- Supervising performance audit works of other Audit Directorate
- Conducting performance audits
- Working as research wing of OCAG for improving audit methodology
- Developing training modules and deliver trainings
- Developing Quality Checklists
- Setting up a Resource Centre
Status of Performance Audit Reports
Since 1999 total of 22 Performance Audit Reports have been submitted to the Parliament, of which following three (3) reports were discussed in the PAC:
- Jamuna Fertiliser Co. Ltd. under Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation
- Performance Audit on Bangladesh Jatiyo Grontho Kendro
- Performance Audit on DESA.
The following 19 performance Audit reports have been submitted to the Parliament. The Public Accounts Committee of the 9th Parliament has established five sub-committees to address all files pending hearing.
Sl. |
Audit Directorate |
Ministry |
Title |
Year |
| 1 | Commercial Audit Directorate | Ministry of Industries | Audit of Bangladesh Insulator & Sanitary Ware Factory Ltd. of Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporations | 1998-2003 |
| 2 | Commercial Audit Directorate | Ministry of Industries | TSP Complex Ltd. Patenga, Chittagong of Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporations | 2002-2004 |
| 3 | Commercial Audit Directorate | Ministry of Industries | Bangladesh Urea Fertilizer Ltd. Rangadia, Chittagong of Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporations | 2002-2004 |
| 4 | Commercial Audit Directorate | Ministry of Industries | Jamuna Fertilizer Company Ltd. of Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporations | 2002-2004 |
| 5 | Commercial Audit Directorate | Ministry of Forest & Environment | Audit Report on 15 Rubber Plantation under Bangladesh Banoshilpa Development Corporation | 2003-2004 |
| 6 | Commercial Audit Directorate | Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism | Bangladesh Biman Corporation | 2003-2005 |
| 7 | Local & Revenue Audit Directorate | Ministry of Shipping | Mongla Port Authorities : Performance Evaluation of Port Administration & Management | 2003-2004 |
| 8 | Local & Revenue Audit Directorate | Ministry of Forest & Environment | Plantation Programme 2004: Planting of Coconut Saplings | 2003-2004 |
| 9 | Local & Revenue Audit Directorate | Ministry of Shipping | Chittagong Port Authorities : Performance Evaluation of Port Administration & Management | 2002-2004 |
| 10 | Local & Revenue Audit Directorate | Ministry of Forest & Environment | Conservation of Environment and Bio-diversity and Development of tourism in St. Martin Island: Present Condition & Future Actions | 2001-2007 |
| 11 | Performance Audit Directorate | Ministry of Health & Family Welfare | Audit on the Health Care Services of Chittaging Medical College Hospital | 1994-2001 |
| 12 | Performance Audit Directorate | Ministry of Education | Performance Audit on Printing, Publication and Distribution of Text Books by the National Curriculum & Textbook Board | 1995-2001 |
| 13 | Performance Audit Directorate | Government Wide Issue | Examination of Internal Control Systems & Internal Audit Activities | -- |
| 14 | Railway Audit Directorate | Ministry of Communications | Computerized Wagon Control System of Bangladesh Railway | 1996-2003 |
| 15 | Railway Audit Directorate | Ministry of Communications | Audit of Activities & Financial Management of Railway Workshops under Bangladesh Railway | 2001-2004 |
| 16 | Works Audit Directorate | Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development & Cooperatives |
Audit on The Dhaka Water Supply & Sanitation Authority [Dhaka WASA] | 2001-2004 |
| 17 | Works Audit Directorate | Ministry of Water Resources | Audit on The Chittagong Water Supply & Sanitation Authority [Chittagong WASA] | 2001-2004 |
| 18 | Works Audit Directorate | Ministry of Water Resources | Audit of Six Development Projects of Water Development Board | 2000-2005 |
| 19 | Works Audit Directorate | Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development & Cooperatives |
Audit of the Dhaka City Water Eradication Project | 2001-2006 |
Following eight (8) Performance Audit Reports are in the process of being finalized for submission in the Parliament:
Sl |
Audit Directorate |
Ministry |
Division/ Directorate |
Report Title |
Year |
| 1 | Commercial Audit Directorate | Ministry of Power, Energy & Mineral Resources | Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration Company Ltd [BAPEX] | Performance Audit of Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration Company Ltd from 2006-07 to 2008-09 | 2006-07 - 2008-09 |
| 2 | Local & Revenue Audit Directorate | Ministry of Home | Directorate of Prison | Performance Audit on Management of Prison under Ministry of Home | 2005-08 |
| 3 | Local & Revenue Audit Directorate | Ministry of Commerce | BSTI | Performance Audit on the Bangladesh Standard Testing Institute [BSTI} | 2007-2008 |
| 4 | Performace Audit Directorate Foreign Aided Project Audit Directorate LLP |
Ministry of Health & Family Welfare | HNPSP PRogram | Performance Audit of Health, Nutrition, Population Sector Programme [HNPSP] | |
| 5 | Post, Telecommunication, Science and Technology Audit Directorate | Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology | BTCL | Performance Audit on 10 lakh T&T Mobile Telephone Projects (1st Phase – 2.5 lakh telephones) [2003-04 to 2007-08] | 2003-04 - 2007-08 |
| 6 | Works Audit Directorate | Ministry of Communications | Department of Roads & Highways | Performance Audit on the Total Activities of the Department of Roads & Highways | 2005-06; 2006-07 |
| 7 | Works Audit Directorate | Ministry of Communications | Department of Roads & Highways | Performance Audit on the Road Maintenance Program of the Department of Roads & Highways of FY 2005-06 and 2006-07 | 2005-06; 2006-07 |
| 8 | Works Audit Directorate | Ministry of Public Works | National Housing Authority | Performance Audit on the National Housing Authority (2004-2007) | 2006-07 |
Capacity Building Measures:
Several measures have been taken by the OCAG to enhance its capability for conducting Performance Audits. These are:
- Formation of the Performance Audit Advisory Committee
- A Performance Audit Core Group has been formed comprising of 28 officers of the department for carrying out performance audit in a professional manner with the help of SCOPE Project. Pilot performance audit will be carried out in guidance of International experts in this sector.
- Performance Audit Training provided by the Performance Audit Directorate in collaboration with in FIMA to 90 selected officials during 2008-2009
- Training on Field Execution & Reporting will be carried out by Performance Audit Directorate for members of Performance Audit Teams who will be conducting Performance Audit in 2010.
The OCAG is continuously trying to increase the effectiveness of its audit function and the on going reforms the OCAG has undertaken will gradually improve the performance audit activities in line with the international best practices.