Leading by example

This is to be commended; as has been the case in many an enterprise, late fillings are the norm. In fact, there are a number of these institutions that have tried to raise bonds in the past only for prospective investors to receive unaudited or no accounts for any number of years. Certainly far more relevant is the inability to assess the performance of these enterprises.

Are they carrying out the instructions of their Boards? In fact, and far worse, are they engaged in activity that the Boards responsible for them are not aware of? This problem of reporting by the State Enterprises has been so for years, and to which, if we are to be honest, our elected representatives have turned a blind eye. Many of us quite possibly may have wondered if the behaviour was not openly condoned. The position has been articulated time and again that the Government needs to stop talking about wrong doing now or in the past and actually censure those found to be in breach and/ or enact policy to stop and correct the errant behaviour.

In this regard there is the hope that the statement by the Prime Minister is far more than nice sounding words meant only placate public opinion. Indeed, the Prime Minister’s statement could not come at a better time, when the country’s finances are so precariously poised. Core revenue at $37 billion and the need for one-off revenue items suggest that fiscal consolidation requires attaining efficiency in the
operations of the state enterprise sector. Ensuring state enterprises deliver on their mandate in an efficient manner can only be determined if there are accounts to review.

As the Prime Minister seeks to get financial reports we hope it is not management accounts but audited accounts that he is speaking about. In this regard, are all these institutions required to have their accounts audited only by the Auditor General’s office? If this is the case one wonders if this office has the staff to handle the auditing so many enterprises going back many years. It may be useful for the government to have Boards of State Enterprises investigate their individual pieces of legislation, if these exist, to determine if they can use private sector firms to audit their firms?

Of course there are a number of institutions in the state sector that are already using private sector firms and not the auditor general’s office. This needs to be explored. The last and perhaps more relevant question is what is the point of having up-to-date audited accounts? Is it to have some enterprises raise financing on the local or international market? Is it to start a new round of expenditure reduction in the state enterprise sector? We must indicate if only to ensure proper monitoring as well as to make sure that the government leads by example to have proper audited accounts conducted on the activities of all entities under its control is commendable. We look forward to see what will come of all this.