Polye: It is all hogwash

By ISAAC NICHOLAS

THE government has described as “hogwash and misleading” a claim by the opposition that there has been significant expenditure outside the budget in three months, The National reports.
Treasury and Finance Minister Don Polye assured the nation, the business community and development partners that the budget would be tabled next Tuesday with the sovereign wealth fund legislation.
“There has never been any unlawful and illegal expenditure of whatever amount as claimed by the opposition,” he said.
“We are working within the confines of the Public Finance Management Act, the Fiscal Responsibility Act, medium-term strategies and Vision 2050.
“The economy is in safe hands and we believe in prudent management.”
Polye dispelled claims that MPs were missing out on what he was disbursing in district services improvement programme funds.
“I look at the check-list and finance those districts that have missed out on funding. This is fair, instead of funding those that have already received their share,” he said.
Polye said the priorities of government were health, education and infrastructure – and that was what the government was paying within the budget.
He said the Finance Department was doing its “normal close of accounts” for this
year’s K9.3 billion appropriate expenditure.
“It is a normal pattern of financial management and accounting undertaken at the end of every fiscal year,” he said.
“These bunch of opposition critics are out of touch with financial management and system of government. They do not seem to understand accounting.
“I suspect they are only misconstruing the facts and deliberately falsifying information to discredit a credible government and hope to influence the decision of the courts on Dec 9.”
Polye said the Finance Department had issued a public notice that the 2011 fiscal year would close on Dec 12.
“Any truth about the government’s management of the economy will be known after the close of books by the end of December.”
He said the final report would be published in the 2011 public accounts report to be tabled in the March session of parliament