Audit of the PL-480 Title I program in Morocco

480 Title I program in Morocco. Audit report covers six Title I agreements for FY80-85 and is based on document review, visits to five projects funded with local currency proceeds, and interviews with USAID/M, Government of Morocco (GOM), and project officials. The six Title I agreements provided the GOM with a total of $193.3 million in concessional food credit. USAID/M has been unable to ensure, however, that the equivalent amount of local currency proceeds were used - as agreed prior to the signing of the agreements - to support the Mission"s emphasis on rainfed farm development. The information required of the GOM was not sufficient to account for actual usage of the funds because the USAID/M officials responsible for monitoring did not understand accounting control systems. (The monitoring function was assigned to the Program Office, rather than the Controller"s Office.) Nor were USAID/M officials aware that the GOM reports had not been certified by the central Moroccan audit authority as required. This lapse in USAID/M accounting controls has subjected the Title I program to unnecessary vulnerability. It is recommended that USAID/M obtain an accounting from the GOM on FY80-85 local currency usages and implement specific controls to ensure future accountability. USAID/M"s comments on the draft audit report are appended.