PHILIPSBURG:--- The General Audit Chamber presented its audit report entitled Compliance Audit: Financial Statements of St. Maarten 2018 to Parliament today. The General Audit Chamber is required by law to examine whether Government was legally compliant and effective in its spending of St. Maarten's public funds.
The 2018 Financial Statements should have been prepared by September 1st, 2019. The 2018 Financial Statements were presented in October 2020. The Audit Chamber reported within the legal 6 weeks, after receiving SOAB’s report on July 16th, 2021.
The fiscal year 2018 ended with a deficit of ANG 121.2 million according to the Financial Statements, however, the original budget had estimated a higher deficit of ANG 197.1 million. Higher-income contributed to the lower deficit.
An adverse auditors’ opinion is appropriate for the 2018 Financial Statements. Both the 2018 National Budget and the 2018 Financial Statements do not provide the information required by the NAO, which limits insight. Moreover, the 2018 Financial Statements contain substantive reliability errors totaling ANG 145.0 million.
There is insufficient compliance with the budget cycle. The National Ordinance for the adoption of the Financial Statements should be presented to Parliament within one month after the report of the Audit Chamber. Without the establishment of this Ordinance, the budget cycle remains incomplete.
The report is published in both English and Dutch and is available on the website of the General Audit Chamber (www.arsxm.org).
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