The Northern Marianas Governor, Benigno Fitial, has submitted a detailed annual financial report showing that the CNMI government overspent its budget by US$16 million.
It also had a US$2 millon dollar shortfall in expected revenue.
The overspend was in part due to excess personnel costs at the departments of Public Safety and Public Health.
The Governor said that if austerity measures reducing working time by 16 hours per pay period had been implemented, the estimated nearly $16 million in savings would have balanced the budget.
