Government spending still plagued by mismanagement
Print Edition
GOVERNMENT spending on receptions, vehicles and overseas trips remains susceptible to poor management and malpractice, the National Audit Office reported yesterday.
The audit report on the implementation of the central budget was submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the country’s top legislature.
The audit covered 38 central government departments and 389 subsidiary institutions, and involved about 154 billion yuan (US$24.7 billion) worth of spending, or about a third of last year’s total budget.
While expenditure last year in the three areas was 23 percent lower than in 2012 — thanks to a campaign against extravagance launched in late 2012 — management remained lax.
More than 1,100 people were found to have been in violation of laws or disciplines, the report said, without giving the amount of misspent funds.
In the area of travel, the report said that 149 groups sent overseas by seven departments and nine subsidiary institutions changed their approved itineraries and extended their stays.
In one instance, a group of officials from the China Geological Survey spent three days in Las Vegas during a trip to North America in January 2013, though they claimed they were working in Canada.
Similarly, 14 departments and 54 subsidiary institutions spent 32.3 million yuan on overseas trips that was not budgeted for, it said.
On lavish receptions, the report said 22 departments, including the transport and civil affairs ministries, held 87 meetings at five-star hotels last year.
Meanwhile, in the finance sector, the audit discovered irregularities with regard to the issuance of loans and the accounting of bad loans.
According to the report, eight state-owned banks, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, issued 375 billion yuan worth of loans to restrictive projects and real estate enterprises, while three financial institutions, including China Investment Corp, covered up bad loans totaling 18.3 billion yuan.
The audit also indicated that local government debt has been growing at a slower rate since the middle of last year.
The debt balances of nine provincial governments and nine municipal governments grew by an average of just 3.8 percent from the end of last June to the end of March.
That compared with an increase of almost 11 percent in the first half of last year.
Local governments at various levels were liable for a combined direct debt of 20.7 trillion yuan at the end of last June, as well as 9.5 trillion yuan worth of debt with limited liabilities, the report said.
The debt risk in this area, however, is generally within control, the audit report said.
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