RIYADH: The Shoura Council is expected to discuss higher salary packages for staff at the General Auditing Bureau (GAB) because the regulatory body is losing Saudi employees to other government agencies offering better pay.

The proposal to raise the salaries of Saudis was contained in the 2014 annual report of the GAB, stemming from a study conducted jointly with the Human Rights Commission (HRC).

The GAB, according to the report, is losing staff to organizations offering higher pay, particularly the National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nazaha), the Shoura stated recently.

The better packages saw several highly qualified GAB staffers resign or seek early retirement so that they could join other bodies such as the Nazaha, which has affected the auditing body’s work, the annual report stated.

According to the report, this situation could see the government coordinate the work of all financial regulatory bodies in the country, including putting in place a set of standard regulations for all such agencies, to allow for more objective performance assessments.

Another matter that would be discussed by the Shoura is for the GAB to automate all its accounting processes, in line with a Cabinet decision for all financial statements and record keeping to be done electronically.