Report of the Auditor General for the Fiscal Year
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31 October 2002 Hon. Ralph Ramkarran, S.C., M.P., Speaker of the National Assembly Public Buildings, Avenue of the Republic, Georgetown. Dear Mr. Speaker, REPORT OF THE AUDITOR GENERAL ON THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS OF GUYANA AND ON THE ACCOUNTS OF MINISTRIES, DEPARTMENTS AND REGIONS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2001 In accordance with Article 223(2) of the Constitution of the Republic of Guyana, I am pleased to submit the attached report on the Public Accounts of Guyana and on the Accounts of the Ministries/Departments/Regions for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2001. The report is required to be laid before the National Assembly, and I would very much appreciate if this is done at the earliest opportunity. With kind regards. Yours sincerely, B. BALRAM AUDITOR GENERAL(Ag.) REPORT OF THE AUDITOR GENERAL ON THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS OF GUYANA AND ON THE ACCOUNTS OF THE MINISTRIES, DEPARTMENTS AND REGIONS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2001 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Audit Certificate i Highlights of the Report iii Introduction 1 Report on the Public Accounts Statements: Receipts and Payments of the Consolidated Fund 4 Revenue Actually Paid into the Consolidated Fund as Compared with the Estimates of Revenue 12 Expenditure from the Consolidated Fund as Compared with the Estimates of Expenditure 14 The Public Debt 15 Outstanding Loans or Credits Guaranteed by the Government 17 Outstanding Loans and Advances made from the Consolidated Fund 18 Statutory Expenditure 20 Receipts and Payments of the Contingencies Fund 22 Balances held on Deposit by the Accountant General at the close of the Financial Year and Outstanding Advances made 24 Current Assets and Liabilities of the Government 26 Report on the Accounts of Ministries/Departments/Regions: Office of the President 34 Office of the Prime Minister 50 Public Utilities Commission 52 Ministry of Finance 52 Accountant General’s Department 74 Customs and Trade Administration 76 Internal Revenue 82 Ministry of Foreign Affairs 85 Ministry of Local Government 112 Ministry of Information 116 Parliament Office 118 Office of the Auditor General 119 Public and Police Service Commissions 121 Teaching Service Commission 121 Elections Commission 122 Public Service Ministry 127 Ministry of Agriculture 128 Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Industry 163 Ministry of Public Works and Communications 168 Ministry of Education 221 Ministry of Health and Labour 259 Ministry of Human Service and Social Security 274 Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports 282 Ministry of Housing and Water 299 Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation 312 Ministry of Home Affairs 320 Ministry of Home Affairs (Guyana Police Force) 337 Ministry of Legal Affairs 343 Guyana Defence Force 348 Supreme Court of Judicature 359 Public Prosecutions 376 Office of the Ombudsman 377 Public Service Appellate Tribunal 377 Region 1 - Barima/Waini 378 Region 2 - Pomeroon/Supenaam 386 Region 3 - Essequibo Islands/West Demerara 402 Region 4 - Demerara/Mahaica 423 Region 5 - Mahaica/Berbice 436 Region 6 - East Berbice/Corentyne 449 Region 7 - Cuyuni/Mazaruni 458 Region 8 - Potaro/Siparuni 466 Region 9 - Upper Takatu/Upper Essequibo 473 Region 10 - Upper Demerara/Berbice 484 Report on Other Entities Public Corporations 495 Municipalities and Local Authorities 498 Other Statutory Bodies 499 Trade Unions 500 Foreign Funded Projects 500 Acknowledgements 501 Statements and Accounts 2/1 REPORT OF THE AUDITOR GENERAL ON THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS OF GUYANA AND ON THE ACCOUNTS OF MINISTRIES, DEPARTMENTS AND REGIONS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2001 AUDIT CERTIFICATE I have audited the Public Accounts of Guyana and the Appropriation Accounts and the Receipts and Disbursements of Ministries, Departments and Regions for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2001, as set out in pages 2/1 to 2/257. My audit was carried out in accordance with Sections 26 and 31 of the Financial Administration and Audit Act, Chapter 73:01 of the Laws of Guyana. Responsibility for the Preparation and Audit of the Accounts The preparation of the statements and accounts referred to above, including assertions relating to their completeness, accuracy and validity and compliance with applicable laws and regulations, is the responsibility of the Accountant General, Accounting Officers and Principal Receivers of Revenue. My responsibility is to express an independent opinion on these statements based on my audit as well as these assertions and to report my opinion thereon. Basis of Opinion I conducted my audit in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards and guidelines, including those of the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) and the various funding agencies. Those standards and guidelines require that I plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. I believe that my audit provides a reasonable basis for my opinion. Qualified Opinion Based on Limitation in Scope Except for any adjustments, which might have been shown to be necessary as a result of the observations contained in the relevant sections of my report, in my opinion, the financial statements properly present: i (a) the Receipts and Payments of the Consolidated Fund; (b) the Revenue Actually Paid into the Consolidated Fund as Compared with the Estimates of Revenue; (c) the Expenditure of the Consolidated Fund as Compared with the Estimates of Expenditure; (d) the Public Debt; (e) the Loans or Credits Guaranteed by the Government; (f) the Expenditure in respect of those Services which by Law are directly charged upon the Consolidated Fund; (g) the Receipts and Payments of the Contingencies Fund; (h) the Appropriation Accounts of Accounting Officers in respect of the votes for which they were responsible; and (i) the Receipts and Disbursements by Principal Receivers of Revenue for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2001. However, because of the significance of the comments as contained in the relevant sections of my report relating to: • the Statement of Outstanding Loans and Advances made from the Consolidated Fund; • the Balances held on Deposit by the Accountant General and Outstanding Advances made in pursuance of Section 23 of the Act; and • the Statement of Current Assets and Liabilities of the Government, I am unable to form an opinion whether they properly present their respective state of affairs as at 31 December 2001. B. BALRAM AUDITOR GENERAL(Ag.) 31 October 2002 REPORT OF THE AUDITOR GENERAL ii ON THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS OF GUYANA AND ON THE ACCOUNTS OF MINISTRIES, DEPARTMENTS AND REGIONS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2001 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Financial Performance 1. For the period under review, a deficit of $2.734 billion of current revenue over current expenditure was recorded. This performance compares favourably with that of 2000 where a deficit of $4.745 billion was recorded. The decrease of $2.011 billion in the recorded deficit resulted mainly from a combination of the following: (a) a decrease of $4.932 billion in the repayment and servicing of the Public Debt from $15.845 billion to $10.913 billion. This is in contrast to an increase of $3.049 billion in 2000; (b) an increase in current expenditure (excluding the repayment and servicing of the Public Debt) of $3.844 billion from $32.289 billion to $36.133 billion; and an increase of $922.107M in current revenue from $43.389 billion to $44.312 billion. 2. The collection of current revenue exceeded projected levels by 0.55%, compared with similar performances in 2000 and 1999, i.e. an excess of $13.23% and 15.36%, respectively. Estimated current revenue in 2001 totalled $44.068 billion while actual collections amounted to $44.312 billion, giving a budgetary surplus of $244M. Of particular importance is the fact that Other Tax Revenues and Dividends and Transfers exceeded their targets by $1.818 billion and $183.879M respectively. 3. Capital revenue collections from sale of assets, internal loans, external grants and loans, and from other sources, fell short of projected levels by $11.148 billion. Actual amounts budgeted to be collected totalled $23.349 billion while the recorded actual collections amounted to $12.201 billion, giving a percentage shortfall of 47.75%. This is in contrast to the performance recorded in 2000 where capital revenue collections fell below the projected level of $17.679 billion by $385.889M or 2.18%. 4. Capital expenditure also fell below estimated levels. Of a total amount of $22.515 billion budgeted to be spent on capital projects, sums totalling $18.216 billion were actually expended, giving a shortfall of $4.299 billion or 19.09%, compared with a shortfall in 2000 of $1.428 billion or 7.84% of the revised allocations. The Public Debt iii 5. The Public Debt of Guyana (i.e. debts which are required to be serviced out of the Consolidated Fund only and which do not include those of Bank of Guyana and parastatal entities) stood at G$310.827 billion as at 31 December 2001, the external portion accounting for G$207.686 billion. In equivalent United States dollars, the Public Debt was US$1.633 billion, the external debt accounting for US$1.091 billion. 6. Compared with 2000, the Public Debt has decreased by G$4.271billion, the external portion accounting for G$9.911 billion. However, in terms of US dollars, the external debt increased by US$25M from US$1.066 billion to US$1.091 billion. The internal debt has, however, decreased by G$14.181 billion from G$117.322 billion to G$103.141 billion. Expressed as a factor of current revenue, the Public Debt at the end of 2001 was 7.01 times current revenue, compared with a factor of 7.12 at the end of 2000 and 7.39 at the end of 1999.