The State of Public Finance in the State Audit and Administrative Control Bureau (SAACB)'s 2018 Report

-    Financial irregularities in the Ministry of Finance and Planning — the State Final Account for 2013
The State Audit and Administrative Control Bureau (SAACB) in Palestine reserved in its annual report for 2018, (part two, No. 2...) on the deducted amount that was for wastewater treatment charges in the 2012 final account, amounting to more than 55 million shekels due to the lack of a clear basis for calculating the offsets for wastewater treatment charges by the Israeli side..and the lack of follow-up on these deductions by the Water Authority and the Ministry of Finance..However it became evident that the Israeli side deducted an amount of about 68 million shekels from tax funds during 2013..for the purposes of treating wastewater flowing from the West Bank including the Israeli settlements..which are situated on West Bank lands...
The Bureau reserved about 4 million under the item - Agriculture - in the 2012 final account..however it became evident that the Ministry of Finance did not take the necessary measures regarding coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture to verify the amount of the offset from clearance revenues during 2013..which amounted to more than 3 million shekels..without supporting documents showing the reasons for the deduction and the mechanism for calculating the amount..

-       The Ministry of Finance did not disclose the grants and in-kind assistance provided by Arab funds to the State of Palestine during fiscal year 2013.., and there are no agreements regarding the grants provided by Arab countries, and a confirmation letter was not obtained from the Arab countries regarding the grants and assistance provided to the Palestinian people, except for the Kuwait Fund for Economic Development..which leads to showing the balances of grants and assistance at less than their actual value

-       The in-kind grants that were provided to the State of Palestine during 2013 were not disclosed in the financial statements..
Recording the repayment of the revolving loan granted by the Energy and Natural Resources Authority to the Palestinian Ministry of Health as a grant that pertains to the Energy Authority led to inflating grants in Note No. (9).
The Ministry of Finance recorded an amount of 850 thousand dollars as a grant in 2013..instead of recording it as trust funds, where the Turkish government transferred it to UNRWA's account through the Ministry of Finance...
As for the reservations on payroll and wages expenditures for 2013...- Note No. (13). The value of social security for civilians and military personnel was not disclosed within Note No. 13 relating to salaries and wages...for 2013, which affects the fair presentation of the financial statements regarding the actual liability of the Ministry of Finance in favor of the Public Pension Agency from the government's share during 2013..in addition to not disclosing the balances of accrued entitlements in favor of the Public Pension Agency within the financial statements for 2013...

-       Reservation regarding the failure to clarify the details of Note No. (18) concerning the net cash flows of the Public Petroleum Corporation for 2013...where the net cash flows of the Public Petroleum Corporation were disclosed at 187 million shekels..based on amounts received and spent from the bank accounts of the Public Petroleum Corporation without clarifying the details of these accounts of payments and receipts (accounts receivable and payable).!!
The Ministry of Finance's failure to repay the loan that the Ministry of Finance obtained from the Palestine Monetary Authority was not committed to..
Reservation on the Ministry of Finance obtaining Cabinet approval for some domestic loans in 2013 with retroactive effect.

-       Using the financial reserves allocation to spend on expenses that are not the result of emergency circumstances or do not have a special nature.

-       The Ministry disbursed funds to a number of institutions and unions contrary to the provisions of the Financial System for Ministries and Public Institutions of 2005 and its amendments                 ..

-       The Ministry of Finance disbursed some advances from the Projects (General) account, where some of these advances are closed exceptionally and without sufficient supporting documents that justify their closure, which prevents verification of the correctness of the disbursement..

-       The Ministry of Finance responded to the Bureau's report on the 2013 final account..and the response was generally positive..and the Ministry of Finance committed to the majority of the recommendations contained in the 2013 final account report..regarding the preparation of the financial statements..however, from examining the Bureau's annual report for fiscal year 2017..it became evident that these observations continued without any noticeable changes.