by Linda Straker
- FROC 2023 annual report will be tabled in Lower House of Parliament on 25 April
- Report is second of Committee under Laurel Bain’s chairmanship
- Committee also recommended publication of end of year fiscal report
Publishing government accounts as mandated in the Constitution as well as publishing of an end of year fiscal report, are among recommendations the Fiscal Resilience Oversight Committee (FROC) listed in its 2023 annual report which will be tabled in the Lower House of Parliament on 25 April.
Laurel Bain, FROC chair, said that under fiscal transparency of the economy, the committee has identified several areas for improvement, including publishing the audited public accounts as governed by the Constitution, the Public Finance Management Act and the Audit Act.
“The report on tax concessions which should also be published, the report on the National Transformation Fund should be published all in accordance with the Public Finance Management Act,” Bain said during a news conference on 23 April.
This is the second report of the Committee under her chairmanship. The other Committee members are attorneys Lisa Taylor, Annette Henry, Accountant Randy Lewis and Economist Leon Bullen who represents the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB).
Bain said the Committee also recommended that an end of year fiscal report be published although such a requirement is not mandated in law. “This is not in any of the legislation. However, at the time of the presentation of the national budget, the estimates of revenue and expenditure, the information contains estimated data for the year under review, the actually outcome could be significantly different from the estimated outcome and hence in the new year it is necessary to publish an end of year fiscal report,” she said.
In terms of data, there is scope for improved data management, particularly for timely, update and comprehensive data particularly for preparing national accounts reviewed by the Committee. “That data should be presented in a manner that allows for ease of analyses,” said Bain. She is a former ECCB employee who served in various positions, including Deputy Director in the Research Department, Senior Director of the Statistics Department and Senior Director in the Governor’s Office.
“In terms of growth and transformation, the Committee recommended that along with strengthening the sectors there is need to further strengthen the linkages among the sectors. There is also the need to develop indicators that will measure productivity and the ease of doing business as these could also affect the growth and transformation of the economy,” she said.
