KABUL - About $2 billion government annual revenue is lost to corruption and mismanagement annually, the Integrity Watch Afghanistan (IWA) said on Monday.

At a meeting with Mohammad Akbar Stanikzai, member of the Wolesi Jirga’s Finance and Budget Commission, IWA official Sayed Akram Afzali said funds allocated to provinces were not managed properly.

He said 44 percent of the country’s budget was being spent on security and the rest on social security and infrastructure development. Most of the Afghans lived below the poverty line but the government has been unable to alleviate poverty.

The IWA official estimated corruption between $1 and $2 billion took place at the country’s ports and at revenue departments every year. He asked the government to investigate corruption throughout the country.

Stanikzai said this fiscal year’s budget seemed imbalanced and was likely to be rejected by the lower house.

But a Finance Ministry official denied corruption in revenue departments and ports. He said the annual budget had been prepared keeping in view available resources and funds for development had been allocated on merit.

He said the $8 billion budget was based on 30 percent domestic revenue and 70 percent foreign aid. The revenue collection system had been upgraded and there were no chances of corruption, he concluded. (Pajhwok)