In recent months there have been strident calls from Prime Minister Mia Mottley and Governor of the Central Bank for private players to invest in the country. Even the newly minted President of the Caribbean Development Bank Donald Best has added his voice to the call. There can be no disagreement that investment is a prerequisite for driving economic activity in a country with job creation a key outcome.
Minister Ryan Straughn during his maiden presentation of the ‘budget’ announced Barbadians will be given the opportunity to invest in renewable energy projects. He reported that government will partner with financial institutions to package the investment vehicle to facilitate citizen investment. The goal of Barbados is to strive for 100% renewable energy penetration by 2035.
Any opportunity to invest in the prevailing climate will be attractive to individual investors. In recent years the market has provided very view opportunities to realise attractive returns on investment and savings. The government should be confident that there is pent up demand from ordinary Barbadians to invest in the renewable energy space. In principle the blogmaster supports the planned initiative. However, there is a caveat.
For too long the indefatigable Auditor General has published year after the year the inability of a significant number of state owned entities (SOEs) to publish audited financial statements. The SOE at the top of the list is the renamed National Insurance and Social Security (NISS). It is the most important fund in the country and has not published audited according to the 2022 Auditor General since time immemorial.
The National Insurance Fund has been established to allow for eligible Barbadians to benefit from programmes designed to provide monetary benefits to seniors and others who meet the qualifying criteria. The audits for the financial years ended 31st December, 2013 and 2014 are in progress. The financial statements for the years ended 31st December, 2015 to 2022 have not been submitted for auditing.
The BU family has been like John the Baptist asking for greater priority to be placed by government to resolving whatever issue is preventing the laying of up to date NISS audited financial in parliament. Here is what the Auditor General stated (not the blogmaster) in the 2022 Auditor General report –This Fund needs to be audited so as to provide the public with a current and independent opinion of the state of the finances of this Institution.
It is fair to conclude after reading auditor general reports in the last decade that successive governments have placed little to no importance to adhering to key fundamentals of good financial management. It is no stretch to suggest that the indisciplined behaviour by successive governments has influenced Barbadians in some measure – The hip bone’s connected to the backbone, The backbone’s connected to the neck bone...
There is a popular saying that one does not buy a pig in a poke. Why should Barbadians be asked to invest in government instruments if it continues to be less than transparent in financial reporting? A prerequisite to making investments in private instruments is that independent audited reviews are undertaken to ensure a measure of confidence can be derived by the potential investor. In fact it is a legal requirement. There is no reason the Barbados government should be receiving a bligh.
Before any citizen invests in renewable energy stock or any other type of investment for that matter, Barbadians should demand an independent review of the entity or investment vehicle. We have been promised up to date audited NISS financial since the Gun Hill lion was a cub, check BU Hansard to confirm. Do a better job of financial management of SOEs and only then will we show you our money.
Enough is enough!
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.