28 April, 2000 Hon. Sasenarine Kowlessar, Minister Responsible for Finance, Ministry of Finance, Main & Urquhart Streets, Georgetown. Dear Minister, 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 1998 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 1998. 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, ANAND GOOLSARRAN AUDITOR GENERAL 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 1998 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Audit Certificate i Highlights of the Report iv Introduction 1 Report on the Public Accounts Statements: Receipts and Payments of the Consolidated Fund 5 Revenue Actually Paid into the Consolidated Fund as Compared with the Estimates of Revenue 13 Expenditure from the Consolidated Fund as Compared with the Estimates of Expenditure 15 The Public Debt 17 Outstanding Loans or Credits Guaranteed by the Government 19 Outstanding Loans and Advances made from the Consolidated Fund 20 Statutory Expenditure 22 Receipts and Payments of the Contingencies Fund 23 Balances held on Deposit by the Accountant General at the close of the Financial Year and Outstanding Advances made 25 Current Assets and Liabilities of the Government 27 PAGE Report on the Accounts of Ministries/Departments/Regions: Office of the President 34 Guyana Defence Force 50 Guyana National Service 58 Ministry of Information 60 Office of the Prime Minister 63 Parliament Office 64 Office of the Auditor General 65 Office of the Ombudsman 66 Public and Police Service Commissions 67 Teaching Service Commission 68 Public Prosecutions 69 Public Service Appellate Tribunal 70 Public Utilities Commission 71 Ministry of Legal Affairs 72 Supreme Court of Judicature 78 Ministry of Foreign Affairs 93 Ministry of Home Affairs 109 Ministry of Agriculture 122 Ministry of Health and Labour 142 Ministry of Education 157 Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports 180 Ministry of Human Service and Social Security 184 Ministry of Housing and Water 190 Ministry of Finance 197 Accountant General’s Department 211 Customs and Excise Department 212 Inland Revenue Department 220 Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Industry 226 Ministry of Public Works and Communications 231 Ministry of Local Government 268 Region 1 - Barima/Waini 272 Region 2 - Pomeroon/Supenaam 279 Region 3 - Essequibo Islands/West Demerara 295 Region 4 - Demerara/Mahaica 316 PAGE Region 5 - Mahaica/Berbice 326 Region 6 - East Berbice/Corentyne 335 Region 7 - Cuyuni/Mazaruni 347 Region 8 - Potaro/Siparuni 357 Region 9 - Upper Takatu/Upper Essequibo 362 Region 10 - Upper Demerara/Berbice 371 Report on Other Entities Public Corporations 379 Municipalities and Local Authorities 385 Other Statutory Bodies 386 Trade Unions 387 Foreign Funded Projects 388 Acknowledgements 394 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 1998 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 1998, as set out in pages 2/1 to 2/233. 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, including those of the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI). Those standards 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 the 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: (a) the Receipts and Payments of the Consolidated Fund; i (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 1998. 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; and • the Balances held on Deposit by the Accountant General and Outstanding Advances made in pursuance of Section 23 of the Act, I am unable to form an opinion whether they properly present their respective state of affairs as at 31 December 1998. In addition, the Statement of Current Assets and ii Liabilities of the Government was not submitted to me by the Accountant General for audit examination and certification, as required by Section 7 of the Act. ANAND GOOLSARRAN AUDITOR GENERAL 28 April 2000 REPORT OF THE AUDITOR GENERAL ON THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS OF GUYANA AND ON THE ACCOUNTS OF MINISTRIES, DEPARTMENTS AND REGIONS iii FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 1998 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Financial Performance 1. For the period under review, a deficit of $749.4M of current revenue over current expenditure was recorded. This performance compares favourably with that of 1997 where a deficit of $2.450 billion was recorded. The reduction of $1.701 billion in the recorded deficit resulted mainly from a combination of the following: (a) a decrease of $5.252 billion in the repayment and servicing of the Public Debt from $20.231 billion to $14.979 billion. This is in contrast to an increase of $6.477 billion in 1997; (b) an increase in current expenditure (excluding the repayment and servicing of the Public Debt) of $2.599 billion from $19.578 billion to $22.177 billion; and (c) a reduction of $953M in current revenue from $37.360 billion to $36.407 billion. 2. The collection of current revenue fell below projected levels by 6.5%, compared with a 2.5% shortfall in 1997 and an excess of 4.17% in 1996. Estimated current revenue in 1998 totalled $38.875 billion while actual collections amounted to $36.407 billion, giving a budgetary deficit of $2.471 billion. Of particular importance is the fact that the two main revenue generating agencies, the Inland Revenue and the Customs and Excise departments, failed to achieve their targets by $2.063 billion and $2.138 billion 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 $5.219 billion. Actual amounts budgeted to be collected totalled $16.339 billion while the recorded actual collections amounted to $11.120 billion, iv giving a percentage shortfall of 31.94%. This is in contrast to the performance recorded in 1997 where capital revenue collections exceeded the projected level of $12.132 billion by $3.268 billion or 27.0%. In 1996 and 1995, there were similar shortfalls of $6.755 billion or 44.52% and $5.068 billion or 34.85%, compared with estimated amounts. 4. Capital expenditure also fell below estimated levels. Of a total amount of $16.349 billion budgeted to be spent on capital projects, sums totalling $13.229 billion were actually expended, giving a shortfall of $3.120 billion or 19.08%, compared with a similar shortfall in 1997 of $2.735 billion or 13.78% of the revised allocations. The Public Debt 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$302.368 billion as at 31 December 1998, the external portion accounting for G$202.952 billion. In equivalent United States dollars, the Public Debt was US$1.824 billion, the external debt accounting for US$1.223 billion. 6. Compared with 1997, the Public Debt has increased by G$35.663 billion, the external portion accounting for G$42.680 billion or US$257.150M while the internal debt has been reduced from G$106.433 billion to G$99.416 billion.