AID's Need for Deobligation-Reobligation Authority
Gao ID: 119784 December 2, 1981GAO reported on the Agency for International Development's (AID) need for deobligation-reobligation authority, some of the history of this authority, and prior GAO participation in addressing the issue.
GAO found that AID is in the best position to address and analyze the management and operational implications of having or not having deobligation-reobligation authority. GAO suggested development of additional information including documentation of actual project experience in several countries, demonstration that reinstatement of the authority would reduce and/or minimize the buildup of AID funding, and documentation of funds it would deobligate and reobligate during fiscal year 1982 with projections for ensuing years. GAO noted that, in the past, it had found that the authority was conducive to loose programing and obligating practices and tended to weaken management and congressional controls.