By Somalilandtimes network

Hargeysa, Somaliland , March 4, 2006 – The House of Representatives is likely to introduce drastic amendments to the government’s budget bill when it come the floor for debate next Monday.

Most of House members have already voiced criticism against the bill as containing fundamental flaws that must be addressed.

In a last week report to the House, the select committee on Financial Affairs had expressed concerns over a number of flaws in the budget such as the lack of a breakdown of government revenues to regional, district and ministerial levels, the lack of public account statements corresponding to the financial information submitted to the legislature and the unavailability of verifiable figures on the numbers of government employees and members of the security forces as well.

The committee noted a reluctance among officials of the ministry of Finance to provide information, coupled with an apparent lack of professionalism among the leading staff.

Meanwhile, there is a strong suspicion among House legislators that the government has over the years been misleading the public about the size of its revenues budget.

According to a number of financial experts familiar with this government’s public accounts, annual revenue budgets submitted to parliament were often 40-50% less than the achievable targets.

For instance the actual government revenues achieved in the fiscal year 2003 was about $22 million dollars in surplus of the budget estimate submitted to the house as indicated in a booklet published by the ministry of Planning. For the year 2000 the difference totaled roughly $8.5 million.

The revelations came amid reports that a number of senior government officials bought expensive properties abroad. Allegations have also been mounting that some senior officials have been systematically embezzling the government of millions of dollars in foreign exchange earnings.

Source: Somaliland Times