Lahore, Dec. 20 -- Financial irregularities amounting to billions of rupees have been detected in Pakistan's local government institutions across the southern region of the Punjab Province, The Express Tribune reported, citing the Auditor General of Pakistan's audit report for the financial year 2022-23, released on Saturday.

The audit, which examined the accounts of Pakistan's 128 local government institutions, revealed serious lapses, including non-production of financial records, violations of prescribed procedures and irregularities related to pension payments.

The most significant issue identified was the non-production of records worth PKR 12.87 billion in 53 cases. Procedural violations involving PKR 9.14 billion were reported in...