AG's Report: Nine ministries/depts overspend by RM3bil

PETALING JAYA: Nine ministries or departments had overspent their operating allocation for last year by a total of RM3.73bil, the Auditor-General's Report 2010 said.

There are the:

• Education Ministry,
• Health Ministry,
• Home Ministry,
• Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Ministry,
• Public Service Department,
• Attorney-General's Department, 
• Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and
• Public Services Commission.

The report said feedback from the affected ministries and department showed that they had practised a thrifty policy but the overspending was due to unavoidable circumstances due to increased activities and unscheduled payments.

Parliament approved the additional allocation in a circular dated June 3.

“According to financial rules, an expenditure can only be carried out if the approved financial allocation was enough. The audit checks found that this rule was not fully abided by several ministries who have overspent.

“Some ministries and departments also did not spend the approved allocations.

“This shows that there is still weakness in the planning and management of expenditures although this issues has been frequently raised,” the report, released Monday, said.