Devex: USAID says watchdog analysis of spending delays is ‘misleading’
“A new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office points to roughly $20 billion in unspent funding accumulated in the U.S. Agency for International Development’s accounts. An agency spokesperson described the watchdog’s analysis as ‘misleading and, in some cases, inaccurate.’ Almost $20 billion of USAID’s $185 billion in foreign assistance funding from 2009 to 2019 remained unspent — or ‘unliquidated’ — as of March 31, according to the GAO report, released on Wednesday. However, the ‘vast majority’ of these funds are recently appropriated from fiscal years 2017 to 2019, and they have been obligated in accordance with national-level bilateral agreements at USAID’s country missions, USAID acting spokesperson Pooja Jhunjhunwala wrote to Devex by email…” (Igoe, 12/4).