KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 — The federal government recorded a 0.7 per cent decrease in revenue to RM219.09 billion in 2015 which led to a budget deficit of RM37.19 billion or 3.22 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product.
According to the Auditor-General Report for 2015 (Series 2), the Parliament had approved RM221.72 billion as operating expenditure of which RM216.99 billion or 97.9 per cent was spent.
As for development expenditure, the federal ministries and departments had spent RM40.768 billion (99.4 per cent) out of RM41.025 billion of the approved allocation.
The report said the deficit was covered by internal and external loans amounting to RM121.36 billion.
Apart from financing the development expenditure, the loans were also used to repay existing debts and to finance the Housing Loan Trust Fund, it added.
The report said the National Audit Department audited 25 federal ministries and 40 federal departments in 2015, to evaluate whether their financial management was in accordance with related laws and financial regulations.
Audit findings revealed that overall financial performance of the ministries had declined as compared with the previous two years.
In 2015, only 16 ministries were rated as excellent, down from 20 ministries in 2014 and 23 ministries in 2013.
However, performance of financial management by federal departments showed an improvement, with 22 out of 40 departments rated as excellent in 2015 as compared with 29 out of 51 departments in 2014 and 21 out of 45 departments in 2013.
Surprise checks were also conducted at 226 federal departments and offices at state and district levels, with findings showing that a number of offices did not fully comply with stipulated financial regulations.
The findings included mail registers, cash books and petty cash books not properly maintained or updated accordingly, surprise inspections not conducted as required, and power not delegated to the relevant officer in charge of the safe box.
Besides mandatory audits, the National Audit Department also carried out special evaluations on the financial management performance of premier grade officers, with 29 of them evaluated in 2015.
The report said a total of 33 meetings were conducted by the Public Accounts Committee during the year.
The meetings were also attended by representatives from the National Audit Department, the Ministry of Finance, the Public Service Department, the Accountant General's Department and the Economic Planning Unit. — Bernama
