Budget problems are everywhere not just the public service. I remember my father in the '70's using Golden Treacle instead of resin on a drive belt because it was a fraction of the price, whereas when the belt had to be replaced it came from the maintenance budget.
My last job was the same in the noughties. Generator US so no ETOPS and an extra '90 mins for every Atlantic crossing. The engineers said it was fit to fly so their budget was not paying for the hotel bills and down time. Operations/fuel departments would not ground it since they said it was an engineering cost, and the pilot management sat on their hands and kept their mouths shut.
Was it the accountants or crap management not banging some heads together to blame?