PHILIPSBURG:--- The General Audit Chamber presented its audit report entitled Compliance Audit: 2020 Financial Statements St. Maarten to Parliament today. By law, the General Audit Chamber examines whether the government acted in a legally consistent and effective way when spending St. Maarten's public funds. Our report is essential to understand the government’s financial results. Optimally, the Financial Statements must provide a clear picture of the government's financial management and position for the fiscal year 2020.
We believe that the 2020 Financial Statements do not provide a true and fair representation of the government's income and expenses nor its financial position as of December 31, 2020. We identified irregularities and deficiencies in the 2020 Financial Statements. For example, there are expenses without a corresponding budget, and revenue was either unrealized or under budget.
These shortcomings and errors in 2020 resulted in the issuance of an adverse (negative) opinion by SOAB, the government's internal auditor. In other words, the financial statements failed to comply with legal requirements. The General Audit Chamber agrees with the internal auditor’s opinion.
There are some improvements to report. The 2020 Financial Statement is the fourth statement presented within a year. The 2021 financial statements are due on September 1 of this year. As such, the government is currently up to date.
We hope that with the plans defined in the Country Packages, the government's financial management will systematically improve and, by extension, the quality of the financial statements.
The report is published in both English and Dutch and is available on the website of the General Audit Chamber (www.arsxm.org).
Click here for 2020 financial report.
