CO129-607-3 Revenue Reward Fund 11-11-1948 - 12-12-1948 — Page 27

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incorrectly classified under Deposits in the Annual Abstract Account. The Acting Accountant General stated that he did not propose to make any adjustment in the 1946/47 accounts as these had been closed and the statements of the accounts published, but that any necessary adjustments would be made in the 1947/48 accounts. As, however, the errors relate only to the manner in which the Annual Abstract Account reflects the entries in the books of account for 1946/47, it would appear that no adjustment is necessary in the accounts for 1947/48.

71. It was also brought to the notice of the Accountant General that the totals of payments and receipts brought to account in the Rovenue and Expenditure Abstracts for certain "below the line" accounts did not agree with the payments and receipts totals shown for these accounts in the Annual Abstract Account. It appears from information supplied by the Acting Accountant General that the discrepancies are due to the adoption of different classifications of receipts and payments in the Annual bstract Account from those shown in the accounting records. Details of the accounts misclassified are listed under B of Annexure I to this report.

72. In the Annual Abstract Account the figure for "Total Receipts" is shown as 6662,601,992.39. As this figure includes the opening balance of $7,262.14, the correct figure for "Total Receipts" should be $662,594,730.25. In reply to an observation on this point the Acting Accountant General stated that it was not proposed to amend the Annual Abstract Account.

73. with reference to paragraph 77 of this report, the erroneous classification of the amount of $12,000,000 received as a grant from His Majesty's Government, as a Deposit "Colonial Office", resulted in an understatement of the total revenue figure in the Annual Abstract Account by $12,000,000, with a corresponding overstatement of the receipts figure under "Deposits". The matter was brought to the notice of the Acting Accountant General who agreed that the total revenue for 1946/47 was understated by $12,000,000.

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74. With reference to paragraphs 136 and 137 of this report, the irregular payment of $5,158,000 to the Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank of the monies due for the redemption of Bonds under the Hong Kong Dollar Loans 1934 and 1940, prior to the date when the Bonds were drawn for redemption and were due for payment, resulted in the expenditure figure of $6,071,835.07, shown under Head 22 "Public Debt" in the Annual Abstract Account, being overstated by $5,158,000, and the closing balance of $10,290,159.06 in the Annual Abstract Account, being understated by a similar amount. The matter was brought to the notice of the Acting Accountant General who confirmed that this statement of the position was correct.

75. At the 31st of August, 1948, this Department still had not seen 41 vouchers in respect of payments made during the period 1st May, 1946, to the 31st March, 1947, totalling $11,319,209.75 and the authorities for, and accuracy of, the expenditure charged in the Annual Abstract Account have, therefore, not been verified to this extent. The matter has been brought to the notice of the Accountant General.

THE STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES.

76. The details of the Statement of Assets and Liabilities have been verified through the medium of the statement "Proof of the Balance Sheet" which has been compiled from the Annual Abstract Account.

For