Latest update March 29th, 2024 12:59 AM
Oct 22, 2016 Letters
Dear Editor:
I have had cause to write in 2010 about this precise matter when someone who is well school in the art of finance and accountancy was trying to mislead the nation that it is alright for a budget to be missed by billions of dollars. It is not alright unless the people have a clear explanation for the variance.
It would therefore be remiss of me to ignore this theatre of great implausibility that I am observing today, being played out in the Ministry of Finance, by way of a new item in Prime News created by the Minister himself. What is a budget? A national budget is the quantitative express of the plans of a government for the forthcoming year. It reflects the goals and objectives of the government and it gives a fairly accurate assessment of the projected cash inflows and outflows from the Treasury.
What it does not do is miss the mark by G$20 billion without a proper explanation. Knowing the information provided by the Minister is fuzzy, if not deceptive, I did not react immediately since I suspect his advisors would have identified his missteps and a corrective statement would have been issued soon after. But with so much time now under the bridge, it appears anything passes for public statement these days in the Ministry of Finance. This precedence if left unchecked will create a credibility issue for the entire nation.
Everyone will agree with the Minister that a government will never be able to spend its budget to the exact cent; it is an estimate. But what is absolutely clear, is a Minister does not miss the target by more than 57% without clearing the air on this massive variance. The Minister had a chance at his press conference and failed to offer an explanation to the nation; rather he chose to rant and rave on a Constitutional Office for doing its work. But it is not who make the most noise that counts; it is who makes the most sense that matters and so far the Minister comes across as very unschooled on this concept of public accountability.
As cited on page 37 of the Auditor General Report and as certified at the bottom of that page by the Accountant General, it was confirmed that the Parliament approved the payment of G$35 billion in the 2015 Budget to repay the Public Debt, but the Minister in his wisdom chose to pay G$15 billion. That is not an immaterial financial misstep; this is a serious shortfall in one’s promise. Therefore when such massive variance occurs, you account to the owners of those funds; the people. Politicians must continually reinforce in their head that they are just mere, temporary custodians of other people’s moneys.
So if the Minister argues that the G$35 billion was a rough estimate then the entire 2015 budget can be deemed a “cock and bull” budget that pulled numbers from out of the sky with no real science behind it. I have been doing budgets for most of my life, with the last one completed 2 weeks ago and sized at over US$90 million and on every occasion where there is a material deviation from the estimates, there is an explanation to the stakeholders. But, the taxpayers are yet to hear from the Minister as to why he chose to underpay the Public Debt by G$20 billion. Budgeting is not a black art or magic, it is a science that is explainable. And therefore the Minister ought to have explained to the nation the reason why he underpaid on the Public Debt by some G$20 billion in 2015.
As I said before, my focus is on how G$20 billion is being passed forward to the primary school children of Guyana. This is no little matter. This is a G$20 billion unexplained. I, therefore respectfully invite the Minister to explain to his employers, the people of Guyana, why he underpaid on the promised Public Debt repayment by some G$20 billion. I humbly rest my case.
Sase Singh
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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