The national audit office on Wednesday said there are serious shortcomings in the functioning of three government departments: the tax office, the armed forces and the ministry of security and justice.

The audit office always presents its analysis of the government’s performance on the third Wednesday in May.

Chief auditor Arno Visser singled out IT problems at the tax office, the poor maintenance of armed forces equipment and the justice ministry’s financial statement for special comment.

‘Attempts to get a grip [on these issues] have not been successful so far,’ Visser said. However, in total 99.7% of government spending is properly conducted, he said, and there has been significant improvement in some areas.

The spending review also showed that the national debt fell last year for the first time since 2006 and that the budget deficit has not been so low since 2009.

The national debt reached 65% of GDP in 2015, or €442bn. In 2014, the national debt was 68% of GDP. Nevertheless, the debt is still ‘far from ideal’, finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem told MPs.

MPs will debate the audit office’s findings next week.

Koffer met stukken #Vdag2016 in ontvangst genomen, zo op naar de Tweede Kamer voor overhandiging. pic.twitter.com/D7fPBhbfXo

— Jeroen Dijsselbloem (@J_Dijsselbloem) May 18, 2016