The Board of Audit said Friday that wasteful spending of tax money in fiscal 2017 was at the second-lowest level in a decade, while reporting that the state has been shouldering far more costs for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics than earlier projected.
According to the latest report on the use of the state budget, a total of ¥115.7 billion ($1.01 billion) in 374 cases was found to have been wastefully spent by government agencies and state-funded firms, or could have been better utilized in the spending system.
The cases include 292 violations of laws and regulations covering ¥7.5 billion in spending. By government office, the Defense Ministry received the greatest urging to address its spending methods.