Watchdog IFAC raises alarm on health spend overruns

In its final fiscal assessment report this year, the watchdog identified continuing serious concerns about overruns in the health budget, which it said was probably due to poor cost management.

“The potential negative feedback between poor budget setting and poor expenditure management now appears particularly marked in the health area, with expenditure over- runs leading to significant upward revisions to future annual ceilings,” said the IFAC.

It said that the largest single overrun in the past two years was in health.