BEIJING, Sept. 30 -- Budget abuses and mismanagement were unearthed in all 32 Central Government ministries and institutions examined by auditors, media reports said Thursday.

    Auditors found that the ministries continued to handle funds as they wished, hid income in secret accounts to evade supervision, exaggerated outlays and overcharged the public or other departments. The problems are deep-rooted and have been exposed before, Xinhua said.

    The audited ministries came from virtually every level of government. Budget mismanagement was exposed in powerful departments like the Finance Ministry and the National Development and Reform Commission as well as in less influential departments like the National Tourism Administration. It overcharged travel agencies more than 5.7 million yuan (US$0.7m).

    Charity and relief organizations were not immune to the problems either. Auditors found the Red Cross Society of China overcharged various institutions 800,000 yuan for permission to use its logo during the 2003-2004 financial year. The society also collected more than 7.8 million yuan in "service fees" from suppliers and hid the money in a secret account.

    One notable case concerned the Ministry of Commerce. The Ministry of Finance approved expenditure of 600 million yuan last year for the Ministry of Commerce, while the latter spent only 40.5 million yuan and kept the rest for its own use.

    The audit focused on last year's budgets while uncovering abuses dating back several years. For example, departments under the Civil Aviation Administration were found to have "intercepted" funds amounting to 87 million yuan by January this year, which should have been handed to superior units. However, the money was used to cover staff compensation and insurance.

    The State Sports General Administration, which collected more than 24 million yuan in sponsorship funds between 1998 and last year, kept the money instead of depositing the funds in government accounts.

    "If the problems found by the auditors can't be solved, people will be disappointed and the audit administration will lose its authority," Qin Rongsheng, deputy director of China's Audit Research Association, was quoted as saying in the report carried in domestic media.

    Auditor-General Li Jinhua has been applauded for his anti-corruption efforts since Premier Wen Jiabao gave him extra powers to carry out more extensive audits of government departments' finances. However, his power remains limited as he has no commanding authority over other departments.

    (Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)