POOR financial management by federal agencies resulted in a loss of RM158.08 million in public funds, Auditor-General Nik Azman Nik Abdul Majid said in his latest report.

He said seven performance audits for projects worth RM66.862 billion were carried out in 2021.

“Twenty-two recommendations were forwarded to the said ministries and agencies for them to take corrective action,” he told a press conference today at the release of the Auditor-General’s Report 2021 Series 2.

He noted that five companies were found to have achieved the objectives of their establishment, two companies demonstrated good corporate governance practices and three companies were financially stable.

Thirty-five recommendations had been submitted to the management of the companies for improvements.

The National Audit Department has also carried out special audits into forest management and its impact on the environment in Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Pahang, Perak, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor and Terengganu.

The audits were to assess whether forests in the states had been managed in accordance with sustainable forest management principles.

Two hundred and fourteen recommendations were submitted by the auditor-general, 184 of which were for the state ministries, departments, and agencies to consider, and 30 for state government-owned companies.

“The department heads were informed in advance about the issues highlighted in the Auditor-General’s Report,” the report said. – February 16, 2023.

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