BUJUMBURA June 20th (ABP) – The President of the Court of Auditors Élysée Ndaye presented, on Wednesday June 16, the comments of this court in relation to the bill on the general budget of the State for the financial year 2022-2023.
Concerning the tax measures, this Court noted that implementing orders were not issued to accompany five measures instituted by the previous finance laws, whereas this was an obligation.
As for the new laws contained in this public finance project for the 2022-2023 fiscal year, the Court noted that the finance law does not provide information on their impact on the increase in tax revenue.
In addition, the Court of Auditors submitted to the National Assembly its comments on the accounting provisions of this bill. According to Mr. Ndaye, there has been no change as in previous years in relation to the management of the contingency line and credit transfers. According to him, it should be noted that in terms of credit transfers, orders should be signed jointly by the minister in charge of finance and the ministers concerned, which is not done.
Also noting that the National Assembly and the Court of Auditors should be informed about these transfers for control.
With regard to revenue, a strong evolution was noted compared to the revenue forecast, which increased from 9.9% for the previous financial year (2021-2022) to 40.4% for the coming financial year. (2022-2023).
That Court also noted that the revenue structure remained the same, compared to the previous financial year. Tax products always come first, followed by donations, non-tax products and exceptional products. The quality of revenue forecasts is realistic, according to Élysée Ndaye.
In terms of expenditure forecasts, the Court noted a change in the structure compared to the previous financial year, i.e. 50.30% for the 2022-2023 financial year, while for the 2021-2022 financial year they amounted to 69.60%. The quality of the expenditure forecasts was realistic and others unrealistic, according to the Court of Auditors.
Speaking in relation to tax expenditures and the structure of the budget, the President of the Court of Auditors notes an evolution in the level of the required documents which were annexed to the finance bill whereas during the previous years these documents were lacking.
Regarding the balance of the budget, Mr. Ndaye stressed that certain elements are missing, which implies that “the information given is to be taken with reserve.”
He specified that one does not notice the feasibility, in the immediate future, of certain measures proposed in the finance law, as long as they were planned to increase revenue. According to him, this “impacts the sincerity of the deficit proposed in the finance law”.