PAYMENTS FOR EXCHANGE

Southland Times, Issue 23331, 15 October 1937, Page 8

PAYMENTS FOR EXCHANGE

SEPARATE ACCOUNTS NOT CHARGED AMOUNTS FOR INTEREST IN LONDON (From Our Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON, October 14. “Attention has been drawn from time to time to the method of treating exchange in the Public Accounts and I have to state that the position is still unsatisfactory,” states the Controller and Auditor-General (Mr J. H. Fowler) in his report to Parliament for the 1936-37 financial year, which was presented in the House of Representatives today by the Speaker (the Hon. W. E. Barnard). “A slight improvement was made during the year, exchange costs having been recovered from the Post Office and the railways on overseas expenditure made from the Public Works Fund votes for these two departments,” states Mr Fowler. “This improvement has little effect on the general position, as the greater portion of the exchange cost results from the payment of interest in London and is paid from the Consolidated Fund. No charge is made against the separate accounts for exchange on interest payments, the whole amount being borne by the ordinary revenue account.

“It can readily be seen that this procedure has the effect of understating the expenditure of the accounts affected and the published figures do not disclose the true position of the various undertakings. No adjustment for exchange is made in any of the departmental accounts within the Consolidated Fund and although this does not affect the position of the fund as a whole the departmental accounts and balance-sheets o' those departments whose expenditure is made through the Consolidated Fund are misleading and inaccurate.”