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Estimates of the Colony and approved by the Legislative Council and the Secretary of State. It was observed during a recent examination of the receipts and payments accounted for in this Account, in subsequent financial periods, that receipts credited to this account have increased enormously over the receipts during the period ended 31st March, 1947, and that very large payments, in one case of $193,000 and another recent case of $113,260, have been charged to this account in respect of payments of rewards.
It would appear, therefore, that early action should be taken to introduce a properly authorised system of accounting for the receipts and payments arising from the seizure and disposal of confiscated goods.
79.
With reference to paragraphs 5(a) and 7 of the report of the Director of Colonial Audit on the accounts of Hong Kong for the period ended 30th April, 1946, the deposit accounts referred to, together with the other deposit accounts incorporated from the Hong Kong (London) Accounts Office Balance Sheet at the 30th April, 1946, and certain other Deposit Accounts, including balances outstanding an accounts taken over on the transfer from the British Military Administration to Civil Goverment, have not yet been fully examined by this Department.
80.
The Accountant General was unable to give complete information as to which deposit accounts had been reconciled with departmental records at the 31st March, 1947, but stated that steps were being taken to have all balances for all departmental Deposit accounts, as well as Advances and Suspense Accounts, reconciled with the departmental records at the 31st March, 1948.
SUSPENSE
81.
The total of the balances of 60 Suspense Accounts at the 31st March, 1947, amounted to a net credit of $26,600,399.04, of which 15 accounts, showing a net credit of $40,822,513.20, relate to the financial transactions of the Supplies, Trade & Industry Department.
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82.
It was observed at paragraph 4 of the report to the Director General of Colonial Audit, referred to at paragraph 50 of this report, that none of the Suspense accounts operated by the Supplies, Trade & Industry Department had been approved by the Secretary of Stato. examination of the Suspense Accounts operated by the Department shows that receipts over the period under review totalled $170,091,395.71 and payments $129,268,882.51, and that the total payments thus made on the authority of the Director exceeded by over $13,000,000 the total voted expenditure (including Loan expenditure) of the Colony for the period ended 31st March, 1947. The view has been expressed by the Audit Department that it is clearly unsatisfactory that the expenditure of public funds by the Supplies, Trade & Industry Department should not be subject to control by the Legislature, nor receive the approval of the Secretary of State and attention has been drawn to the equally undesirable corollary that since expenditure is met fram surplus balances and receipts are added thereto, the extent and nature of the financial transactions of this Department are not detailed in the published accounts of the Colohy. It was also brought to the notice of Goverment that the Acting Accountant General hus advised that none of the balances of these Suspense Accounts were reconciled with the departmental records kept by the Supplies, Trade & Industry Department at the 31st March, 1947.
83.
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Apart from two Railway Suspense Accounts, the nature and extent of the transactions accounted for in the remaining 45 Suspense Account s the receipts of which totalled $20,415,601.52 and the payments $34,637,715.68 for the financial period under review, have not yet been
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