The Audit Service Commission has accused the Ministry of Finance of refusing to send a formal public debt report to parliament as mandated by Section 21 (1) of the Public Debt Management Act.

Performance Audit Report on the management of public debt by the Finance Ministry, June 2022.

According to the report, it is mandated by law that Finance Ministry submit public debt report to the House of Parliament not later than three months after the end of the financial year.

“However, this has not been done as there are no formal public debt reports sent to parliament by the ministry, except for the public debt annex included in the budget and the bulletin produced on an annual basis,” the report revealed.

And as such, the report continues, Parliament might not be aware of the public debt status, browning limit, ongoing debt projects and their status for oversight.

The document has it that the Directorate, Public Debt Management revealed that they were unable to meet the mandated reporting date, because public debt figures should be properly confirmed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) before reported and published.

“The IMF always comes in after the reporting deadline” the Directorate, Public Debt revealed to the team of auditors.

Under legal framework for public debt, it was revealed by the report that, though there are clear legal requirements that the ministry should follow in the management of public debt, Public Debt Management Directorate did not comply with these requirements, for which the report indicated have a direct effect on the overall sustainability of public debt.

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