AUDITOR General Deodat Sharma will hand over the 2007 Auditor General’s Report to the speaker of the National Assembly Mr. Ralph Ramkarran on June 12, at Parliament office, Public Buildings, Brickdam.

The report is in keeping with Government’s commitment to ensure transparent and democratic governance and is testimony to the transparency and accountability which have developed during the past few years in relation to the public accounts of Guyana.

The report includes Government’s spending for its various Ministries and agencies. The 2006 report was presented in July of last year.

The Government Information Agency (GINA) noted that before the Office of the Auditor General was reformed, the report was formally handed to the Minister of Finance. Now under new constitutional arrangements, it is delivered to the speaker of the National Assembly who takes charge of it.

The report is then sent to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which is headed by People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Member of Parliament Volda Lawrence, after which it is scrutinised and then presented to Parliament.

Under this new process, the PAC has the authority to summon Ministers and other officials to provide explanations and information should they find discrepancies in the utilisation of public funds, following which corrective actions are taken.

The Audit Office has been undergoing significant changes over the years to strengthen its capacity to ensure improved auditing. With the guidance of International Consultants from the Canadian Comprehensive Audit Foundation (CCAF-FCVI), two new sections have been established including, the Performance Audit/ Value for money and the Forensic Audit Section to help improve the procedures, professional practices and technical standards of the office.

The Audit Office of Guyana, formerly the Office of the Auditor General, was established by the Audit Act 2004 which came into operation on April 27, 2005.

Under Section 32 of the Financial Administration and Audit Act, the Auditor General is required to report annually within nine months of the close of each financial year.