News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. June 26, 2020: Five Caribbean governments have been accused by the US State Department of not meeting minimum requirements of fiscal transparency in its latest report.
The five are The Bahamas, Belize, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Suriname. The report makes the following recommendations.
The Bahamas
The US State Department report said The Bahamas’ fiscal transparency would be improved by ensuring the supreme audit institution audits the government’s executed budget and makes audit reports publicly available within a reasonable period of time.
Belize
Belize’s fiscal transparency would be improved by publishing its executive budget proposal within a reasonable period of time and ensuring the supreme audit institution audits the government’s executed budget and makes audit reports publicly available within a reasonable period of time, the report said.
The Dominican Republic
The report noted that in the Dominican Republic, fiscal transparency would be improved by: publishing a complete end-of-year report, making audited financial statements of significant, large state-owned enterprise publicly available, and making the FY 2018 report by the supreme audit institution publicly available.
Haiti
On Haiti, the report noted that fiscal transparency would be improved by:
- publishing budget documents within a reasonable period of time,
- publishing greater detail on revenue sources and types, as well as expenditures by ministry,
- providing more detail on allocations to and earnings from state-owned enterprises,
- subjecting its military budget to civilian oversight,
- ensuring adequate audit and oversight for off-budget accounts,
- improving the reliability of budget documents by producing and publishing a supplemental budget when actual revenues and expenditures do not correspond to those in the enacted budget,
- ensuring the supreme audit institution audits the government’s accounts and publishes the resulting audit reports,
- consistently adhering to laws and regulations for contracting and licensing in natural resource extraction, and
- routinely publishing basic information on natural resource extraction awards.
Suriname
The US State Department report said Suriname’s fiscal transparency would be improved by:
- publishing an end-of-year budget report online,
- detailing allocations to and earnings from state-owned enterprises,
- producing and publishing a supplemental budget when actual revenues and expenditures do not correspond to those in the enacted budget,
- preparing financial statements according to internationally accepted principles, and
- ensuring applicable laws and regulations for contracting and licensing in natural resource extraction are followed in practice.
