Dominican Republic agriculture ministry spent seven times more than planned

The Dominican Republic's Ministry of Agriculture faces scrutiny over its financial management, with audits revealing substantial deviations between its executed budget and planned expenditures. Between 2020 and 2024, the ministry's total budget was 118.4 billion pesos. However, from 2021 to 2023 alone, spending on purchases and contracts reached 76.5 billion pesos.

This execution figure is seven times greater than the 11.3 billion pesos allocated in the institution's annual plan for purchases and contracts (PACC). The spending also exceeded the annual operational plan (POA) by 24.5 billion pesos. These discrepancies violate Article 26 of Law 10-17, according to the General Controller's office.

The audits suggest that the planning for purchases may not have adequately reflected the institution's actual needs or aligned with its budget and operational plans. The General Controller's office noted that neither planning instrument bore the required signature of approval from the ministry's highest authority at the time of the audit.

Further irregularities were found in the management of institutional agreements. Auditors examined 23 out of 70 agreements formalized between September 2020 and December 2023, totaling 1.8 billion pesos. These reviews identified missing supporting documents for disbursements, lack of detailed budgets, and incomplete contract reviews by the Internal Audit Unit (UAI). These deficiencies pose risks of unsupported payments, increased operational costs, and potential misuse of funds.