Audit shows Navajo Nation flush with cash but struggling to spend it
By Donovan Quintero
Special to the Times
WINDOW ROCK – A comprehensive audit of the Navajo Nation’s finances and federal programs for fiscal 2024 shows a tribal government with vast financial resources, billions in cash and investments and a comparatively small debt load.
At the same time, the audit highlights long-standing weaknesses in accounting practices, procurement systems and federal compliance that auditors say must be corrected to protect those resources and safeguard future funding.
According to the audited financial statements, the Navajo Nation ended fiscal 2024 with a net position of about $8.2 billion, up sharply from roughly $6.6 billion the year before.
The increase was driven largely by investment performance and federal grant activity, including a $770 million net increase in the fair value of investments, about $252 million in interest and dividends, and hundreds of millions in federal revenue tied to revenue replacement programs.
The Nation’s controller, Sean McCabe, said the figures reflect a balance sheet that is unusually strong for a tribal government.
“We report roughly $10 billion in cash investments on our balance sheet, very little liabilities,” McCabe said. “So we have a very good current-asset-current-ratio position, which we hope to take advantage of leveraging our financial stability for potential capital financing to really start putting some improvements down for the Navajo Nation.”
To read the full article, please see the Dec. 26, 2025, edition of the Navajo Times.
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