Goolsarran cautions gov’t on spending in face of impending elections

With general elections likely within the next three months, former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran has urged government to exercise caution in spending the budgetary allocations for 2019.

Writing in his Accountability Watch column in today’s Stabroek News, Goolsarran said given that the APNU+AFC government’s mandate “expires in three months’ time,” it has to exercise extreme caution in how it utilises the budgetary allocations for 2019 to enable any new government to have enough financial resources to manage the resources of the State for the remaining nine months.

The APNU+AFC government lost a confidence vote in the National Assembly on December 21 but has since said that it will submit a legal brief to Speaker of the National Assembly Dr Barton Scotland contending that he erred in ruling that the PPP/C-sponsored no-confidence motion was carried. The government has said that it is examining all legal options in relation to the vote but should its arguments be dismissed, elections would have to be held within three months.

In a previous column, Goolsarran had urged all parties to accept the Speaker’s ruling. In today’s column, he reiterated that position and urged prudence in spending.

He suggested that in relation to current expenditure, for each of the first three months of 2019, spending by ministries, departments and regions should not exceed more than one-twelfth of their 2019 budgets. In this regard, budget agencies should adjust their monthly plans to ensure that they do not exceed their allotments, he said while adding that support for this approach can be found in sections 27 and 36 of the Fiscal Management and Accountability (FMA) Act.

Section 27(2) provides for the Minister to ‘direct allotments to be made at the level of expenditure classification other than set out in the applicable appropriation Goolsarran wrote.

He emphasised that Constitutional agencies should, however, be given their allocations in the normal manner.

In terms of capital expenditure, Goolsarran urged that no new capital expenditure projects be initiated until after the elections. “However, spillover contracts, such as the East Coast Road Rehabilitation Programme and the Cheddi Jagan Airport Expansion Project should continue, and payments made in accordance with the agreed schedules,” he wrote.

In relation to public debt, the former Auditor General said that no new debts should be incurred Act’, until after elections. He added that the repayment and servicing of existing debts should continue in the usual manner.

As it relates to new agreements, Goolsarran said that no new agreements should be entered into in the first three months, which have the effect of binding the State.

He had previously pointed out that in 2015, there was no budget in place until eight months into the year as a result of the prorogation and subsequent dissolution of Parliament by the then PPP/C government, and the subsequent holding of elections. In that year, Goolsarran recalled, the then Minister of Finance Ashni Singh authorised withdrawals from the Consolidated Fund significantly in excess of what the Constitution and the FMA Act allowed him to do.

“He also authorised withdrawals from the Contingencies Fund which did not satisfy the criteria laid down by the Constitution and the FMA Act for such withdrawals. Judicial intervention was sought, and the Chief Justice ruled that Minister violated the Constitution. The extent of breach of budget laws that led to the impeachment and removal Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff pales in comparison to what happened in Guyana in 2015,” Goolsarran said.