Budget 2024-2025: Rs 2 Billion of Public Funds Remain Unused
An audit of the Budget 2024-2025 reveals that Rs 2 billion of public funds have gone unspent. Out of this amount, Rs 1.7 billion has been reallocated to other expenditures. The report also highlights the granting of additional credits while initial funds remain unused.
Context
Estimated revenue for the 2024-2025 financial year was initially set at Rs 210.5 billion, while planned expenditures were Rs 216.8 billion. Subsequently, the Supplementary Appropriation (2024-2025) Act 2025, adopted on April 22, 2025, and approved on April 24, 2025, provided for additional expenditures of Rs 21 billion, of which Rs 11.8 billion were effectively allocated.
Key Findings from the Audit Report
1. Reallocation of Unused Funds
Out of the Rs 11.8 billion approved, Rs 2 billion remained unspent at the end of the financial year. Of these unspent funds, Rs 1.7 billion were reallocated to other expenditure items.
2. Use of Additional Credits Despite Existing Unspent Initial Funds
An allocation of Rs 3.2 billion was planned in the initial budget for the Climate and Sustainability Fund (CSF). However, due to implementation delays, the planned projects were executed through the National Environment Fund (NEF). Despite this, an additional credit of Rs 1.1 billion was approved on April 24, 2025, to finance these same projects through the NEF, while the initial CSF funds remained unused at that date. This situation raises a budgetary inconsistency, as a simple reallocation of existing credits (from CSF to NEF) would have sufficed, rendering the need for additional credits unnecessary.
On June 30, 2025, an amount of Rs 2.5 billion, from the Rs 3.2 billion initially allocated to the CSF, was redirected to a new expenditure item: a grant to the National Property Fund Ltd (NPFL), which was not included in the original budget. It was noted that funds originally earmarked for CSF projects were redirected for a new use, while these projects were ultimately funded primarily by additional NEF credits. This highlights a lack of coherence and transparency in resource allocation.
3. Partial Use of National Resilience Fund
For the 2024-2025 fiscal year, a total of Rs 8.5 billion was allocated to the National Resilience Fund. This amount included Rs 3.9 billion from additional credits, aimed at supporting eligible employers facing challenges in meeting the 14th month salary and wage compensation for 2025, as well as financing Home Ownership and Home Loan Schemes. However, by June 30, 2025, Rs 1.2 billion remained unspent, including Rs 500 million from initial credits and Rs 700 million from additional credits. This underutilization reflects a limited ability to effectively mobilize allocated funds.
4. Transfer of Rs 2.58 Billion to the National Property Fund
On June 29, 2025, the National Property Fund Ltd (NPFL) requested financial support of Rs 87.5 million to cover interest payments due in 2025 to the Bank of Mauritius (BoM) as part of a Rs 3.5 billion credit facility. The NPFL also engaged in discussions with authorities to obtain longer-term support solutions for repaying this facility.
On June 30, 2025, the government made a total transfer of Rs 2.58 billion in the form of current grants to the NPFL. This amount includes:
- Rs 87.5 million intended for annual interest payments due to the BoM, financed from credits allocated for wage compensation under the supplementary estimates;
- Rs 2.5 billion allocated for partial repayment of the capital of the Rs 3.5 billion credit facility, financed from funds initially earmarked for the Climate and Sustainability Fund in the 2024-2025 Budget.
Response from the Ministry of Finance: "All budget reallocations were made in strict compliance with the limits and conditions outlined in the financial instructions regarding credit transfers. Similarly, all excess expenditures, except for those from the fiscal year 2022-2023, have been duly regularized through the Supplementary Appropriation Act."