The exit conference discussed the highlights of the 2008 audit report.
During the year ending Sept. 30, 2008, approximately $11 million of questioned costs were resolved for the FSM as a whole.
This effort involved people across the nation and Mori was congratulated for effectively organizing the resolution of the issues under the specific direction of the secretary of finance and administration with substantial assistance from the national public auditor.
Another major effort was the performance of reconciliations with state finance offices to clarify the balances due to or from those entities.
The effort involved was substantial and the correction of these matters has been urged by the auditors for some time.
Despite the challenging economic environment, the FSM government ended the year with a general fund surplus as of Sept. 30, 2008.
This is despite investment losses sustained as a result of the world wide economic crisis and certain expenses that had to be taken into account for various prior year matters.
Tax revenues actually increased by some 7 percent during the year and fishing fee revenues increased as well.
The carrying value of investments, however, had to be reduced to reflect the adverse economic factors pervasive in the world since the FSM must reflect the market value of its investments in its financial statements as this is a requirement of generally accepted accounting principles in the U.S.
The auditors discussed the implication of the ongoing impact of the FSM National Fisheries Corp. joint ventures on the financial statements of the national and upon certain state governments, and various recommendations were offered to Mori for future consideration in resolving these matters.
