The COVID-19 compliance audit of the State Trading Organisation (STO) has revealed its COVID-19 expenditure was in compliance with the Public Finance Act.
STO is highlighted as one of the companies with the highest expenditure during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the report, STO spent nearly USD 32 million on COVID-19 related expenses.
The expenditure from STO includes USD 5.4 million released from Ministry of Finance to maintain a stock for two months and to establish a COVID-19 emergency stock. However, the report noted USD 2.13 million from the mentioned fund was utilised to import staple foods.
Furthermore, the audit report highlighted STO acted in compliance with its policies and guidelines in procuring medical equipment and consumables essential for the National Health Requirement List under the agreement signed between the finance ministry, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and STO on April 16, 2020. The audit also noted that procurement of equipment for medical facilities and facilities established for expatriates upon requests from NDMA also met the procurement policies and guidelines.