Maqbool Ahmed Gondal has officially taken charge as Pakistan’s 22nd Auditor General, stepping into office with a major controversy awaiting him. Sworn in at the Supreme Court on Monday, Gondal begins a four-year tenure tasked with managing the fallout from what is being dubbed the country’s “most expensive typo.”
Earlier in August, the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) released its Consolidated Audit Report of Federal Government for Audit Year 2024-25, which cited an eye-popping Rs376 trillion in irregularities—a figure 3.5 times larger than Pakistan’s entire GDP. The report claimed procurement flaws worth Rs284tr, faulty civil works at Rs85.6tr, receivables of Rs2.5tr, and circular debt of Rs1.2tr. The numbers were so implausible that even government insiders expressed disbelief.
Despite this, the then-auditor general, Muhammad Ajmal Gondal, repeatedly defended the report. It was only after persistent criticism that the AGP office admitted the error, blaming it on “typos.” A correction issued later clarified: “At two places, the word ‘trillion’ had been used instead of ‘billion’.” The actual revised figure stands at Rs9.769 trillion—still an enormous amount, equivalent to nearly two-thirds of the federal budget for FY2023-24.
The revised report explains that the irregularities accumulated over several years and involve out-of-budget obligations such as circular debt, disputed land assets, and corporate accounts. The corrected version was quietly uploaded to the AGP’s website last week.
An insider suggested that the department initially defended the error out of “credibility and ego,” rather than acknowledging the mistake earlier. Now, it falls to Maqbool Ahmed Gondal to restore trust in the institution while addressing scrutiny over financial accountability in Pakistan
Pakistan’s New Auditor General Faces Fallout from ‘Costliest Typo’ in Audit Report
