Finance Minister Colm Imbert said the Special Report of the Auditor General on the Public Accounts for the Financial Year 2023 does not address the core issue of a $2.6 billion discrepancy in revenue and creates more unnecessary public confusion. He said premature commentary on the report, which was outlined in a newspaper on Sunday, was an attempt to gain public sympathy.

The special report was laid in Parliament on Monday. Speaking in Parliament, the Finance Minister said the purpose of the special report was to clear up statements by Auditor General Jaiwantie Ramdass that the Finance Minister sought to unethically backdate the 2023 accounts but did not do so.

'This special report does not assist in any way in clearing up the main issue of contention, which resulted from an overstatement of tax refunds and a subsequent under-reporting of net revenue leading to a $2.6 billion discrepancy in the revenue figures for 2023.

'Instead of confirming that the $2.6 billion discrepancy had been resolved and that there was, in fact, no missing money, the Auditor General has avoided making any definitive statement on that very important matter in this special report and instead has chosen to make caustic remarks about the staff and systems in the Ministry of Finance.'

Imbert also said there was premature disclosure of parts of the special report in a Sunday Express article titled Central Bank denied me access, which gave details of an affidavit dated September 5, 2024, filed by the Auditor General in the Constitutional matter against the AG over the payment of legal fees to Ramdass's attorney, former UNC attorney general Anand Ramlogan.

Imbert said at the time the article was published, the special report had not yet been laid in Parliament.

'The premature disclosure of its contents is, in our view, a breach of process. It is clear to us that the premature publication of that emotionally charged affidavit in the Sunday Express was designed to evoke public sympathy.'

Imbert said the Auditor General claimed in the article that she was denied access to the electronic clearing system, negatively affecting her ability to perform a proper audit and check of the system and leading to the understatement of some $2.6 billion in revenue. He said he did not see the connection between the alleged denial of access and the confirmation that the $2.6 billion understatement had been resolved as stated by the Audit Team on July 22.

The Finance Minister said when he spoke to the Central Bank governor, he was informed that the Bank had not received official correspondence from the Auditor General about the matter.

'The Governor has informed me that following an email request made on June 24, 2024, by an official in the Auditor General's Department, to examine the Bank's Electronic Cheque Clearing System and its GoAnyWhere Platform, it requested official correspondence from the Auditor General with an outline of the scope of the potential engagement.

'The Central Bank also indicated that it was open and willing to m