MOT – $477K in excess expenditure for employee compensation

Auditor General's Findings

In the 2018/19 Annual Report, the Auditor-General Department’s review of the Capital B Appropriation Account of the Ministry of Tourism revealed that the Ministry’s actual expenditure for compensation of employees under Project 9399 – Enhancing the Resilience of the Agricultural Sector and Coastal Areas exceeded its approved budget for the financial year 2015/2016 by $477,000.00.

This resulted in the Accounting Officer approving a reallocation of funds (Virement) of $477,000.00 from Object 25-Use of Goods and Services to Object 21- Compensation of Employees in breach of the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 19 dated October 27, 2014. The Ministry of Tourism did not receive the requisite approval from the Ministry of Finance or Parliament to incur this excess expenditure.