The Lieutenant Governor in the Northern Marianas, Eloy Inos, says if there is a silver lining in the 10-day partial government shutdown, it's that nearly three quarters of million US dollars in personnel costs was saved.
The shut-down happened because the lawmakers hadn't reached agreement on a budget.
Mr Inos, who oversees the cash-strapped government's finances, says with the shut-down covering six working days, savings of up to 750,000 dollars were realised.
But lawmakers say these so-called savings are unrecoverable financial losses for the more than 1,400 employees who were affected by the shutdown.
