2019/20 Budget Communication Final Budget Communication | Page 16

Mr. Speaker, During the year, several measures were pursued to fundamentally transform how the Government accounts for taxpayers’ dollars. Last year, we announced that the Ministry of Finance was moving towards the adoption of new budgeting and accounting software and standards and the introduction of a new Chart of Accounts. The new Chart of Accounts, which we introduced in the Mid-Year Budget of 2018/19, and which will be fully implemented on July 1, is fully compatible with international standards. As such, I am pleased to report that the 2019/20 Budget is fully compliant with IMF Government Finance Statistics standards. Parliamentarians and the public will note when viewing this year’s Budget that the classification of some items has changed. This was also the case in the Mid-Year Budget. In addition, they will note that we have begun to shift certain Budget items to the Annex of the Budget Document as a cost-center or programme budgeting item. Under this new structure, certain elements that would have been listed as a distinct budget item before, will now be a programme or cost-centre listed in the Annex. It is important to note this, so that persons who browse the Budget Document looking for a particular item that was previously listed as a line item in the Budget, can be aware that this could have possibly been moved to the Annex. Thus, before the reader concludes that an item is no longer being funded, I would invite them to check the Annexes. It is the intention of the Ministry of Finance to move over the near term to a full presentation of the Budget by programme and cost-centre, as is the prevailing standard for public sector budgeting around the world. I hasten to point out that, while the agencies have started along this road, persons will still find, in perusal of the Annexes, that it is very much a work in progress. The optimal assignment and break out of funding by agencies in their respective categories of programme vs. cost-centres still has a ways to go. But it is a start, and we will continue to build upon this initial effort. In addition, we announced our planned introduction of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) which will facilitate the transition to accrual accounting and its supporting systems. Using the accrual method for Government bookkeeping and reporting will 15