THE EDITOR: Without accruals, the financial report on the economy is untruthful and unacceptable.

As a qualified accountant, I must say there are some serious issues in the imbroglio between the Auditor General and the Minister of Finance re: the presentation of the country’s financial statements for the year ending December 31, 2023, that deserve comment.

In this regard, I have to challenge the report that will eventually become published as and when the outstanding differences are rectified between both parties.

I understand the enthusiasm of the minister to want the huge missing entries to be included. After all, it will demonstrate that the country’s deficit is well within tolerable limits and will show international bodies that the Government and the minister have done a remarkable job of turning around the economy.

But are we not fooling ourselves and others when credit is taken for the huge amount of VAT receipts? Because the accounting is based on cash and not accruals, how valid is the result when it ignores the huge amount of VAT that is unpaid and is a veritable charge against revenue?

Furthermore, when bonds are issued for these refunds, the amounts will become part of the deficit in years to come for others to deal with. The same would apply to the high amounts of contractor bills unpaid. Same thing.

Because the system used for reporting is a cash one, no one really knows the accumulation of the true surplus or deficit as the months roll by. There is no way for the minister to monitor what is happening since he does not know what is unpaid and outstanding, and so he is in a helpless position in the context of managing the country's finances properly.

This is unacceptable and I am aghast that because the system is essentially improper that a huge missing $3.2 billion in revenue was unknown until after a report was issued and is now logically wanted to be backtracked and backdated by a supplemental report.

I have no idea how other countries are managing or doing their budgets and financial reporting. The only conclusion I can come to is that unless an accrual system is incorporated, the Ministry of Finance is publishing worthless paper and the result is obviously the hoodwinking of both the population and the international bodies.

I know that the truth offends, but the dinosaur cash system is one that creates opportunities for misappropriation and manipulation. This should not be so.

On hearing that there is a large VAT payment backlog of billions dollars and knowing that there are huge unpaid contractor bills, the minister could advise the ministry to “include" these outstanding 2023 year-end amounts in the expected report.

Until then, I am unable to accept the untruthful results as a qualified accountant. As a professional I can only deal with the true facts and my own independence as I am not into politics – and never have been either.

PETER S MORALLES

Cascade

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