Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has instructed Finance Minister Davendranath Tancoo to use the law to ensure Auditor General Jaiwantie Ramdass is able to audit the Central Bank’s accounts.

Persad-Bissessar made the statement in the Parliament yesterday as Tancoo laid the Report of the Auditor General on the Public Accounts of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago for the financial year 2024 (October 1, 2023, to September 30, 2024).

Persad-Bissessar said she read in recent newspaper reports Central Bank’s accounts are no longer being audited by the Auditor General.

During her report, Ramdass also identified difficulties in accessing critical Government financial data managed by the Central Bank.

‘Important institution’

“The Auditor General no longer functions as the external auditor for the Central Bank of T&T. The bank nonetheless considers the Office of the Auditor General to be an important institution in contributing to transparency and good governance of the fiscal accounts,” the Central Bank was reported as saying in response to queries.

Instead, the Central Bank stated “BDO T&T is the external auditor of the Central Bank from the financial year beginning October 1, 2023”.

Persad-Bissessar took issue with this. “I am going to advise you to read the law and I am going to instruct the Minister of Finance to use the law so the Auditor General, who was not able to do the accounts and the auditing for 2024 fiscal, that auditor can do so now because the minister has the power under the law,” Persad-Bissessar said.

“So, don’t threaten us. I have told you we will use the law to fix a broken T&T. We will use the law to do what is right in the interests of all the people of Trinidad and Tobago. Do not threaten us,” she said.

‘Do not hide the accounts’

Persad-Bissessar said according to the Central Bank Act, Section 52, “the accounts of the bank shall be audited annually by auditors who shall be appointed by the board each year with the approval of the Minister of Finance”.

“Notwithstanding 52(1), the Minister may require the Auditor General to examine and report the accounts of the Bank, and the Bank shall, not may, the Bank shall, it is mandatory, the Bank shall provide the Auditor General with all necessary and appropriate facilities for examination,” she read.

As such, Persad-Bissesar said she was instructing the Finance Minister to send the Auditor General into the Central Bank.

“Do not hide the accounts,” she said.

Persad-Bissessar called on those sitting in their “ivory towers” to start reading the law and “if you cannot, we have some good lawyers and we can lend them to you”.

“So, Minister of Finance, you now have your job. Send in the Auditor General. Let’s find out where the people’s money in Trinidad and Tobago was spent,” she said.