Over 51 ministries fail financial management: COPA

• COPA finds 26 ministries failed to update fixed assets registries 
• 40 ministries had unsettled balances of advanced accounts 
• 28 ministries given notice for not compiling annual board of survey reports
• Even CIABOC and P’ment fall short 

By Skandha Gunasekara

Over half of the 51 ministries have botched their financial management as well as annual performance, the report by the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) tabled in Parliament yesterday revealed.

The COPA report was tabled by its Chairman, Finance and Mass Media Deputy Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna.

The report assessed the financial management and performance of 837 state institutions for the 2016 financial year.

The COPA had found that 26 ministries had failed to update their registries on fixed assets while 40 ministries had not settled balances of advanced accounts for more than a year and 28 ministries had been given notice for not compiling the annual board of survey reports.

The report states that there is an outstanding unsettled loan in the advance account for over a year at the Auditor General’s Department. 

With regard to the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, the report says that CIABOC had not held three audit management committee meetings and not carried out a Board of Survey report on the stipulated dates for 2016.

As per the report, the COPA had found that Parliament had not maintained an up to date register on fixed assets such as a fixed assets register on computer accessories and software. The inventory register, stock book and losses register too had not been maintained and updated. The Annual Action Plan for Parliament had not been formulated. Parliament had also failed to respond to all queries by the Auditor General’s Department within the given period of one month.

Additionally, the Presidential Secretariat had also failed to maintain an updated fixed assets register including a fixed assets register on computer accessories and software. An updated losses register too was not maintained by the Secretariat. The Secretariat had made commitments exceeding the provisions’ authorised limits while there were outstanding loan balances on the advance account that had not been settled in over a year while no steps had been taken to clear expired deposits in the General Deposit Account in accordance with the provisions of Financial Regulation 571.

Furthermore, the report stated that the Prime Minister’s office too had made commitments exceeding the provisions of the authorised approved limits.

The COPA had probed 19 government special spending units, 51 ministries, 92 government departments, 25 District Secretariats, nine provincial councils, 215 provincial council special spending units and departments, 46 provincial council authorities and statutory institutions, 23 municipal councils, 41 urban councils and 271 pradeshiya sabhas for the 2016 financial year.