The 2016 Auditor General Report has red flagged the fact that the Consolidated Fund of Guyana is in the throes of a heavy overdraft showing that at the ending of last year, the fund reflected an overdraft of $67.5 billion and the cash book, $86
Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan
billion.
The state of the new Consolidated Fund is, in fact, worse than in 2015. At the ending of 2015, the Consolidated Fund was overdrawn by $42.6 billion. According to Auditor General Deodat Sharma, the difference of $18.5 billion between the bank and the cash book was due to a deposit of $6.7 billion not being debited to the cash book. There was also some $22.7 billion in un-presented cheques.
It was also revealed that deposits totalling $5.3 billion were not credited to the bank account, while debit advances of $1.6 billion were not credited to the cash book. Sharma revealed that after examining the reconciliation of the Consolidated Fund account, he noticed that 7150 cheques totalling $9.4 billion were processed and printed during the month of January 2017.
However, in response, the Finance Ministry affirmed that Finance Minister Winston Jordan granted Heads of Budget Agencies has the right to draw down for expenditures up to the end of December 2016.
It was noted that the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act 2003 makes provisions for the account to be overdrawn in order to make up for cash shortfalls
Auditor General Deodat Sharma
while implementing the budget.
“The Ministry of Finance also ensured that no further expenditures were being affected against the appropriation allotments after December 31, 2016, by activating the controls within IFMAS (Integrated Financial Management System),” the report stated.
Defending the printing of cheques into January, the Ministry noted that a centralised system in the Account General’s Department has always had control of this. It noted that as it was unable to complete the printing of cheques that were approved last year, the exercise was continued into 2017.
Article 216 of the Constitution of Guyana states, “All revenues or other (sums of) money raised or received by Guyana (not being revenues or other sums of money
The Ministry of Finance
payable by or under an Act of Parliament into some other fund established for any specific purpose; or that may, by or under such an Act, be retained by the authority that received them for the purpose of defraying the expenses of that authority) shall be paid into and from one consolidated fund.”
Article 217 stipulates that money cannot be withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund except: “(a) to meet expenditure that is charged upon the fund by this Constitution or by any Act of Parliament; or (b) where the issue of those (sums of) money has been authorised by an Appropriation Act; or (c) where the issue of those (sums of) money has been authorised under Article 219.”
