Although its authority does not exceed a few neighborhoods in Mogadishu, the Transitional National Government (TNG) spends quite a lot of money for its functioning. According to a number of official accounting documents in the Somali language, copies of which have been obtained by The Indian Ocean Newsletter, over $14 million were spent between May and September 2001 by the government whose members are headquartered in the Ramadan hotel. A balance sheet sent to President Abdiqassam Salad Hassan by then-Prime Minister Ali Khalif Galaydh on September 16 indicated that the TNG had $14 million in donations from Saudi Arabia and Qatar at its disposal, in addition to 5,262,547,000 shillings (about $317,000) in local currency, which in effect was paper money printed abroad by Somali businessmen. From the various account documents including a TNG account statement from Saudi Arabia, it emerges that the full amount of the budget was spent in the four months, through allotments to the various ministries, various purchases (cars, office equipment), and other types of function expenses not counting salaries. The balance statement for the four months shows a debit of 57 million shillings ($33,000) on the TNG's bank account.

 THE INDIAN OCEAN NEWSLETTER N° 976