Parliament has to define the state reserve: Auditor General

Auditor General Niyaz Ibrahim has expressed concern about the use of the state reserve to settle expenses, and said that the parliament has to decide and define the state reserve.

Niyaz said in an interview to Sun Online, that the government currently uses the saved reserve funds, and that the lack of a clearly written and defined reserve could result in the reserve funds running out completely.

“At the moment it is not clear what the state reserve is. The money paid to India the other day was taken from MMA’s foreign reserve. But article 250 of the constitution clearly states that no expenses can be made from the reserve without the support of two-thirds of the parliament. If the reserve is not defined, there is a risk that it runs out completely,” he said.

He said that the Finance Ministry is allowed to spend from the reserve with no restrictions, and that this has to be stopped even if it requires the introduction of a new law. He said that unless this is done, article 250 (b) of the constitution which relates to the reserve, is redundant.

“This has become one of our biggest headaches,” he said.

The government paid $50 million to the Indian government early this month. This money had to be paid in return for treasury bills obtained by the government earlier. The government is required to pay additional $50 million to India in February as well.

Governor of MMA Fazeel Najeeb said while speaking at the Parliament Budget Committee that the amount of money the government can obtain from the government bank account at MMA has to be restricted, and requested the parliament to make a decision on this matter.

Statistics revealed by MMA yesterday show that the usable reserve is currently $103 million, while gross reserve is $299 million and net reserve, or the minimum amount mandated by legislation for MMA to maintain in their reserves, is $91 million.