Philipsburg: --- With just one week in office commissioner of finance Xavier Blackman said the figure released by the former commissioner of finance is what he would call a blood pressure figure. Blackman said the department already did some preliminary research to see the exact amount of monies that are in the reserves of government. He said 61 million is what he would call the blood pressure figure since indications so far leads towards a lower figure.
Blackman said already there are indications that government only has about Naf.55 million in their coffers while there are outstanding debts to the tune of Naf. 140 Million.
Blackman said there are assets and liabilities and for him the blood pressure is more in the area of Naf. 55 million and not 61 million as was reported earlier. The commissioner did say the figure he has is not the final figure but he is expected to have more details from the director of resources.
Blackman said he already met with the director of resources and a number of issues that were discussed, which included training for their staff which is underway. He said one of the other aspects discussed is the recruitment of staff.
In the same department Blackman said they are busy upgrading the system to enable better control of government finances both internal and external. He said the department of finance is busy finalizing their annual accounts for the years 2007 and 2008 which the CFT is looking forward for. The department is also busy with the amendments of the 2009 budget which is currently on going. In very near future the commissioner said they would be able to release the exact state of affairs of the island government.
