Guyana’s rapidly expanding National Budget is translating into more government projects, with larger price tags and greater complexity, Auditor General Deodat Sharma said on Friday as he submitted the Audit Office’s 2025 report to the National Assembly.
Sharma handed over the report for fiscal year 2025 to Speaker of the National Assembly Manzoor Nadir at Parliament’s Public Buildings, marking the fifth consecutive year that the Audit Office has submitted its report before the statutory deadline.
The Auditor General highlighted the sharp growth in the size of the National Budget, which has risen from G$383.1 billion in 2021 to a record G$1.558 trillion in 2026.
With more public money being spent, Sharma said the scale of infrastructure work being undertaken by government has also expanded.
“As the National Budget increases rapidly, from G$383.1 billion in 2021 to a record G$1.558 trillion in 2026, the volume of infrastructure projects has correspondingly increased in terms of value and complexity, and the techniques and methodologies used to design, implement and manage these projects have evolved as well,” he said.
For the Audit Office, the bigger and more complex projects mean auditors have to strengthen how they examine government works, including the quantities, costs, schedules and performance of contractors.
Sharma said engineers in the Works and Structures Division have completed Project Management Professional training to strengthen their ability to assess major projects and make recommendations on how contracts and projects are managed.
“Using the concepts from the PMP course, our Audit Engineers are better equipped to assess quantities, costs, schedules, and contractor performance and the examination of time and resource allocation measures to evaluate project performance and make recommendations for improvement in the way which contracts are administered and how projects are managed,” he said.
The Audit Office has also been using real-time audits, which Sharma said allow potential irregularities to be identified and addressed sooner while giving government agencies more timely information for decision-making and compliance.
During a media briefing after the handover, Sharma confirmed that the Audit Office examined withdrawals from the Natural Resource Fund as well as the Government’s cash grant programmes. He said details of those examinations are contained in the 2025 report.
The Audit Office also reported continued investment in its own capacity, including training for 31 Central Government auditors, 24 audit clerks and 20 employees involved in processing superannuation benefits as part of real-time auditing.
Another 20 officers received training in data protection and cybersecurity, while three participated in the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme, covering information systems auditing, social sector schemes and digital public infrastructure.
The 2025 report will now be laid before the National Assembly by the Speaker. Once laid, it will become a public document and form part of the official parliamentary record.
Source: NEW ROOMS SITE
