Forecast and actual expenditure

2.14  Robust annual expenditure forecasts are an important element in helping the effective management of a portfolio of projects. Figure 7 presents the expenditure forecasting performance of each project, against the actual expenditure for the year 2009-10. In total, the actual expenditure for the 22 projects at 30 June 2010 was $4.3 billion against an initial forecast expenditure of $5.2 billion and half-year revised forecast of $4.6 billion. The main factors contributing to the variance included production/schedule delays and foreign exchange fluctuations. In the case of the Wedgetail project, earlier than forecast acquisition contract payments and in-service support contract expenditure impacted on the project's initial forecast expenditure.

Figure 7

In-year (2009-10) Projects' Forecast Expenditure Performance compared to Actual Expenditure (variance percentage)

Sources:  2009-10 MPR, Portfolio Budget Statements and ANAO analysis.