| …lack of info stymies closure, transfer to coffers – Dr LuncheonThe failure of timely bank reconciliations and the opening of new bank accounts subsequent to 1992 have contributed to accounts being inactive and holding public funds.This is according to Head of the Presidential Secretariat,Cheap NFL Jerseys, Dr Roger Luncheon,China Jerseys Cheap, yesterday. The Cabinet Secretary was responding to queries about the inactive bank accounts holding some $8.7B that is yet to be transferred to the Consolidated Fund.The Auditor General report of 2006 stated that at the end of that year, a total of 108 Government bank accounts were listed as inactive.However, it was observed that the majority of these accounts had not been reconciled,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, ever since they were established.The accumulated balances of the accounts and other operational accounts (excluding the balances on the bank accounts of special projects) were $8.774 billion at December 31, 2006, compared to a balance of $8.435 billion at December 31,Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic, 2005.Dr Luncheon said that anyone assessing the rate of transfer of funds from the inactive accounts to the consolidated fund would have to do so in the context of the fact of the years when there were no public accounts. “It is indeed a formidable task to close bank accounts that were opened during those years.”According to Luncheon, the beginning of the transfers did not start with the $8.7B stated in the auditor general’s report. “What we are seeing today reflect action being taken to bring a closure to as many accounts as possible.”Closure of the accounts, according to Luncheon,Cheap Jerseys, was proving to be difficult,Cheap Authentic Jerseys, “fundamentally because of a lack of information and timely reconciliation.”The report that was laid in the National Assembly some one year late also noted that billions of dollars that could be transferred to the national coffers were being held in special accounts at the Bank of Guyana.The Audit Office’s assessment of the balances held in the special accounts indicated that 13 accounts with balances of approximately $7.190B appeared to be funds that were transferable to the Consolidated Fund.Nine of these accounts reflected static balances totaling $4.778B over the last three years.Also at the time of the audit it was confirmed by Bank of Guyana that the total amount held in special accounts on behalf of the Government as at December 31, 2006 was $27.412 billion.Of this amount,Wholesale NFL Jerseys Authentic, sums totaling $1.285B relate to the HIPC (Heavily Indebted Poor Countries) relief on the Bank of Guyana’s liability to the CARICOM Multilateral Clearing Facility (CMCF). |
