Govt Ministries overspent by N$573 million

TWELVE Government ministries and departments overshot their budget allocations and jointly overspent a staggering N$573 million during the financial year ending March 2006 – a total of N$217 million more than the N$356 million overspent during the 2004-05 financial year.

The latest report of the Auditor General on Government expenditure for the past financial year said the increased overspending “is of grave concern and Government should improve on existing controls to reduce the level of unauthorised expenditure”. However, because of underspending in some ministries, the end result for overspending was N$368 million for the 2005-06 financial year, 3,2 per cent of the total national Budget.Explanations given by various ministries for the excess spending included unexpected cost increases, higher fuel prices, insufficient budgetary allocation by the Finance Ministry and the absence of an additional budget.The Education Ministry was the main culprit.It exceeded its budget by N$394,6 million, followed by the Defence Ministry with N$39 million, but Defence reportedly had no choice as its allocation for salaries was far too low.The Police overshot their budget by N$31 million, followed by the Health Ministry – N$26 million and Foreign Affairs – N$22,7 million.Other culprits were the Ministry of Environment and Tourism – N$18,7 million, Prisons and Correctional Services – N$17,1 million and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, which spent N$7,2 million more than it was allocated.The Electoral Commission needed about 50 per cent more than its annual budget – N$4,8 million.Its original budget allocation was N$8,6 million.The ministries mentioned are repeat offenders.They had consistently gone over budget for the past five to six years, except for the Defence Ministry, the Auditor General criticised.Total actual Government expenditure for the 2005-06 financial year amounted to roughly N$12 billion, of which almost half – N$5,88 billion was spent on personnel costs, being remuneration for Government officials.Expenditure increased by 4,9 per cent compared to the 2004-05 year.Revenue increased by 15,1 per cent.Individuals paid N$ 2,9 billion income tax into State coffers during the period under review; in 2004-05 it was N$2,66 billion.Diamond mining companies paid N$199,2 million in company tax, N$150 million more than expected.Non-mining companies paid a whopping N$1,37 billion in taxes, while the fuel levy brought in N$87,5 million.Value Added Tax (VAT) came to N$3,10 billion, far more than in the 2004-05 financial year, when only N$1,82 billion VAT was collected, according to the Auditor General’s report.However, because of underspending in some ministries, the end result for overspending was N$368 million for the 2005-06 financial year, 3,2 per cent of the total national Budget.Explanations given by various ministries for the excess spending included unexpected cost increases, higher fuel prices, insufficient budgetary allocation by the Finance Ministry and the absence of an additional budget.The Education Ministry was the main culprit.It exceeded its budget by N$394,6 million, followed by the Defence Ministry with N$39 million, but Defence reportedly had no choice as its allocation for salaries was far too low.The Police overshot their budget by N$31 million, followed by the Health Ministry – N$26 million and Foreign Affairs – N$22,7 million. Other culprits were the Ministry of Environment and Tourism – N$18,7 million, Prisons and Correctional Services – N$17,1 million and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, which spent N$7,2 million more than it was allocated.The Electoral Commission needed about 50 per cent more than its annual budget – N$4,8 million.Its original budget allocation was N$8,6 million.The ministries mentioned are repeat offenders.They had consistently gone over budget for the past five to six years, except for the Defence Ministry, the Auditor General criticised.Total actual Government expenditure for the 2005-06 financial year amounted to roughly N$12 billion, of which almost half – N$5,88 billion was spent on personnel costs, being remuneration for Government officials.Expenditure increased by 4,9 per cent compared to the 2004-05 year.Revenue increased by 15,1 per cent.Individuals paid N$ 2,9 billion income tax into State coffers during the period under review; in 2004-05 it was N$2,66 billion.Diamond mining companies paid N$199,2 million in company tax, N$150 million more than expected.Non-mining companies paid a whopping N$1,37 billion in taxes, while the fuel levy brought in N$87,5 million.Value Added Tax (VAT) came to N$3,10 billion, far more than in the 2004-05 financial year, when only N$1,82 billion VAT was collected, according to the Auditor General’s report.