AMMAN — Monthly financial allocations for the prime minister’s office currently stand at JD80,000, according to an Audit Bureau report discussed by the Lower House’s Financial and Economic Committee on Wednesday.
The Finance Ministry has been transferring this amount to the prime minister’s office for a long time to cover its obligations to provide financial assistance to underprivileged students.
The finance committee decided to investigate the issue, as underprivileged students receive financial aid amounting to around JD1 million from other institutions, according to the report.
The bureau raised this issue in a report on the violations of the Finance Ministry covering the 2009-12 period.
The Audit Bureau said these violations are still being committed.
The report also showed that unpaid dues to the government stand at around JD2 billion.
The House committee decided to form a team to look into the issue and come up with recommendations on collecting these dues as soon as possible.
The panel also decided to review government policy with regard to its representation in quasi-governmental organisations or firms that it owns shares in.
The Audit Bureau report called for establishing one entity to supervise these investments and to rotate government representation in such companies, as in certain firms, government representatives remain in their positions for more than 18 years.
The bureau recommended that the government should present the reasons behind investing JD9.9 million since 2002 in the Jordan Investment Trust, adding that no revenue from this investment has been channelled into the Treasury.
The Audit Bureau submits these reports directly to the Lower House every three or four years, highlighting major violations in the concerned state or public sector institutions that fall under its jurisdiction.
The report has been one of the main tools to monitor the performance of state agencies as MPs use its findings to address questions to the government.
