Almost accountant’s full approval for annual report

The Daily Herald writes that Saba will likely end the year 2013 with a budget surplus, which will be added to its reserves. These reserves contribute to the improvement of the resistance capital of Saba. The reserves are for instance needed for unforeseen events and natural disasters.

The budget for 2014 is being executed according to plan, Committee for Financial Supervision CFT stated after visiting Saba on Monday. The Board of CFT had meetings with the Executive and Island Councils, during which new board member on behalf of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, Hyden Gittens was introduced. He is the successor of Max Pandt. As former Lt. Governor of Statia, Gittens is no stranger to Sabans and he received a warm welcome.

Saba expects a budget surplus over 2013 and CFT already received a draft of these annual accounts. By adding this surplus to the reserves, Saba shows that it is improving its capacity to cope with risks, calamities and unforeseen setbacks, CFT stated Thursday.

Recently, Saba requested three interest-free loans to invest in infrastructure. With these loans Saba would be able to make important improvements in infrastructure. The data received showed that Saba was capable of meeting the obligations of the payment expenses regarding the requested loans.

CFT made clear that while Saba indeed has the possibility to reach the next stage, it was important to expand the content of the quarterly reports to include some additional financial information that is deemed important for complete financial insight. One such report is a quarterly cash flow statement, which currently does not form part of the quarterly package.

The Executive Council made clear that Saba has always been keen on transparency with regard to its financial administration and intends to facilitate with the requested additional information once acceptable formats are cleared with the CFT. Saba has made impressive progress in the past years in strengthening its financial administration, it was stated. The annual accounts for 2012 received a first-time partly approval by the external auditor with respect to a true and fair view. The Saba administration is aiming for full approval from the external accountant over 2014, including the approval with regard to the legitimacy of expenditures made. “This would be a major step towards a fully transparent and accountable financial administration, which will help the Island Council in performing its control function,” CFT said.