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2023 Audit Report silent on whether Gov’t met legal criteria for $6.6B supplementary budgets- Former AG
Kaieteur News – For the year 2023, a total of 23 advances were made from the Contingencies Fund totaling more than $6.6B, however the Auditor General’s (AG) Report for the year does not say whether the legal criteria were met for the supplementary funding.
<Strong.Former Auditor General, Anand Goolsarran(2023 Audit Report silent on whether Gov’t met legal criteria for $6.6B supplementary Budgets)
This was highlighted by former AG, Anand Goolsarran in his Monday column ‘Accountability Watch’ published by Stabroek News. Goolsarran explained, “The Constitution provides for the establishment of a Contingencies Fund and for authorising the Minister responsible for finance to make advances from the Fund if he is satisfied that there is an urgent need for expenditure for which no other provision exists.”
He was keen to point out that the Fiscal Management and Accountability (FMA) Act outlines strict criteria which should be met before an advance is issued.
He explained that the spending must be: “i) an urgent, unavoidable and unforeseen (where) need for the expenditure has arisen for which no funds have been appropriated or for which the sum appropriated is insufficient; (ii) no funds can be reallocated as provided for under the Act; or (iii) the expenditure cannot be deferred without injury to the public interest…”.
Goolsarran said the finance minister is required to include all such advances up to the end of the tenth month of the fiscal year in an appropriation amendment Bill for the purpose of authorizing the expenditure and replenish the Fund.
He noted that some 23 advances amounting to $6.643 billion were made from the Contingencies Fund in 2023, which were all cleared by way of two Supplementary Estimates before the end of the year. The former AG however pointed out, “The Auditor General did not, however, indicate whether the above criteria were met in respect of these advances.”
Goolsarran hinted in his column that this subject would be continued in his next column. Efforts made by this newspaper to contact Auditor General, Deodat Sharma on Monday for a comment on the concerns raised by Goolsarran were unsuccessful.
The 2023 AG Report was handed over by Sharma to Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir on September 23. The report was then laid in Parliament and made public on October 10 during a Special Sitting. Kaieteur News has since reported on a number of key findings made by the Audit Office relating to over payments, expired drugs and other discrepancies flagged in the document.
(2023 Audit Report silent on whether Gov’t met legal criteria for $6.6B supplementary)
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