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GRENADA-POLITICS – Two former accountant generals serving on the first fiscal oversight committee

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ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada, Jul 14, CMC – Two former accountant generals are among five persons to receive appointments from Governor General Dame Cecil La Grenade to serve on the first ever Fiscal Responsibility Oversight Committee.
The main task of the committee is ensure that Government complies with the requirement in the fiscal responsibility legislation.
Michael Pierre, Speaker of the House of Representatives informed members during the recent sitting that the committee members are: Richard Duncan who will be representing Accounting and Angus Smith who will be representing Finance.
Both of them have served Government on previous occasions as Accountant General.
The other members of the committee are – Subrina Gibbs who is representing law, Adrian Haynes representing Public administration and the other member will be a representative from the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB).
Pierre said the Committee was recommended by the Finance and Audit Department to make the recommendation to the Governor General for the appointment of committee members.
The Committee’s responsibility is to monitor the fiscal situation of Government in accordance with Fiscal Responsibility Legislation that was approved in 2015 and amended in 2016 as part of measures of the Home Grown Structural Adjustment measures.
The Fiscal Responsibility Legislation establishes a transparent and accountable rule based fiscal responsibility framework in Grenada, to guide and anchor fiscal policy during the budget process to ensure that government finances are sustainable over the short, medium, and long term, consistent with a sustainable level of debt, and for related matters.
According to the legislation other responsibilities include monitoring compliance with the fiscal rules and targets; laying before the House of Representatives for consideration, an annual report on the status of implementation of this Act; and upon request by the House of Representatives, lay before the House of Representatives an assessment report on the degree to which economic forecasts are set out.
The annual report will include the progress made towards compliance with the fiscal rules and targets with respect to the relevant financial year including where applicable a statement on compliance with a fiscal rule or target within the fiscal year.
The legislation states that a member of the Committee shall hold office for a period not exceeding three years and shall be eligible for re-appointment.
“In no case shall a person hold office as a member of the Committee for a period exceeding four consecutive years, but a person who has served for a period of four consecutive years may become eligible for re-appointment after the expiration of two years,” the legislation further explained.