Finance given ‘sweep’ access to monitor govt agency accounts

THE Finance Department has begun a process to monitor government agency bank accounts.
Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Charles Abel told The National that the Public Money Management Regularisation Act passed in Parliament has given the Finance Department the powers to implement the “sweep” process.
It gives the finance department the authority to scrutinise all the bank accounts of government departments and statutory authorities.
“It gives them the authority to examine their bank accounts and authorise the process whereby the Department of Finance is going to tidy up the bank accounts,” he said.
“You have examples where agencies of government have 15 to 20 bank accounts.
“So they want to tidy up that process and have only one or two bank accounts.
“The process which is being managed by the Department of Finance has begun and is causing some concerns among the agencies.
“They will also begin a process of the sweep to return to the consolidated revenue funds that are in excess of the requirements of the relevant agencies and are sitting dormant.
“It is also restoring the integrity of the central budgetary process whereby revenues collected by the agencies of government on behalf of the state be returned.
“Those agencies will be part of the budgetary process whereby they justify a budget and they receive funding.”
Abel said the principle was that 90 percent of that revenue came back to the state.
“The state will fund their justified operating costs and they will be allowed at least 10 per cent of the revenue that they collect.
“That process has got a two-year transition period so they have started that exercise by putting all the companies on notice.”