Finance Ministry Unveils Public Assets Management Guidelines 2025

The Ministry of Finance has issued the Public Assets Management Guidelines 2025, introducing a comprehensive framework that requires all federal ministries, divisions, attached departments, and subordinate offices to maintain detailed asset registers, prepare annual asset management plans, and report asset information through a centralised digital platform.

The framework has been developed jointly by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, and the Office of the Controller General of Accounts to strengthen governance, transparency, and accountability in the management of public assets.

Under the new regime, every federal entity will be required to maintain an internal departmental asset register while simultaneously reporting asset information to a central asset register administered by the Controller General of Accounts through the Financial Accounting and Budgeting System (FABS).

The guidelines apply exclusively to non-financial public assets. Financial assets, including stocks, bonds, and other investment instruments, as well as current assets such as inventories and consumable supplies, remain outside the scope of the framework and will continue to be managed under separate procedures.

The policy covers fixed assets with an individual value of Rs1 million or above, including land, buildings, infrastructure, machinery, transport vehicles, computer hardware, software, and other intangible assets owned by the federal government.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the initiative is intended to replace fragmented record-keeping practices with a standardised asset management framework that enhances oversight of government-owned land, infrastructure, buildings, machinery, vehicles, and other strategic public assets.

The guidelines introduce a lifecycle-based asset management approach, shifting the focus beyond asset acquisition to include maintenance, depreciation, utilisation, transfer, replacement, and disposal throughout the asset's operational life.

Each reporting entity will be required to prepare an annual asset management plan outlining proposed acquisitions, projected maintenance and repair costs, disposal of obsolete or redundant assets, and expenditure relating to asset protection and security. These plans will form part of the annual budget process, enabling the Ministry of Finance to evaluate asset-related expenditure before approving budgetary allocations.

The Controller General of Accounts will serve as the central authority responsible for maintaining the federal asset register, prescribing reporting standards, monitoring institutional compliance, and publishing an annual report on the Federal Government’s public asset portfolio.

In addition, reporting entities will be required to submit quarterly asset statements and promptly notify the Controller General of Accounts of any material additions, disposals, transfers, impairments, or other significant changes affecting their asset holdings.

To improve traceability and accountability, each qualifying asset will be assigned a unique identification number and recorded at either historical cost or revalued amount in accordance with the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). Depreciation will generally be calculated using the straight-line method, while asset revaluations will only be undertaken where technically justified.

The guidelines also place direct responsibility on Principal Accounting Officers to safeguard public assets by ensuring regular maintenance, conducting annual physical verification exercises, and implementing effective internal controls to prevent misuse, theft, fraud, deterioration, and operational losses.

A comprehensive disposal framework has also been introduced. Before disposing of any government asset, departments must evaluate the asset’s residual value, decommissioning costs, impact on public service delivery, and compliance with all applicable legal requirements, including the Public Finance Management Act, Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) Rules, and the Privatisation Ordinance.

State-owned enterprises already complying with internationally recognised accounting standards and having received unqualified audit opinions during the preceding two financial years will be granted partial exemptions from certain reporting obligations. However, they will remain responsible for submitting prescribed asset information for inclusion in the central federal asset register.

The Ministry of Finance will oversee implementation through periodic compliance reviews and has reserved the authority to suspend the release of budgetary funds to entities that fail to fulfil the prescribed reporting obligations.

The Public Assets Management Guidelines 2025 will become effective following approval by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC). Once notified, they will establish Pakistan’s first comprehensive federal framework for the standardised management, monitoring, and reporting of public assets.