Wheatley hopeful accounts will be current
Premier Wheatley told the House of Assembly he is optimistic the government's financial accounts will soon be brought up to date, as work continues between the Treasury and the Auditor General. Lawmakers also approved $2,805,010 to regularise money spent in excess of the 2017 appropriation.
Premier Wheatley said he is "hopeful" government accounts will be made current soon as he updated members of the House of Assembly during the Continuation of the Fifth Sitting of the Third Session of the Fifth HoA on Tuesday, August 18, 2026. The Premier told the House that the Treasury and the Auditor General have been working to reconcile outstanding records and that significant progress is underway. "We have a lot more work to do as it pertains to getting our accounts current, and I’ve been assured that quite a lot of work is being done by the Treasury, by the Auditor General," he said.
He added that bringing accounts up to date is a constitutional requirement. Members approved a motion to regularise $2,805,010 — money expended in excess of amounts appropriated by the House for 2017. The funding was brought before the House after the Auditor General supplied reconciled figures to the Ministry of Finance showing variances from the official records passed by the HoA. "This is coming here now because, of course, the Auditor General…has submitted to the Ministry of Finance information that is accurate and that needed to be reconciled, and we have amounts which vary from what the House of Assembly would have passed," the Premier told lawmakers.
He urged the HoA to adjust its records so that the official accounts and parliamentary records align. Wheatley said he has pressed the Ministry of Finance to accelerate the clearance of the audit backlog. He said accounts for 2018, 2019 and 2020 are currently with the Auditor General and that the AG should receive records for 2021, 2022 and 2023 within weeks.
Work will then continue to address 2024 and 2025. For BVI residents, bringing public accounts up to date matters for fiscal transparency, sound budgeting and credibility with creditors and donors. Up-to-date audited accounts help the public monitor government spending and are often required for accessing external financing or support.
The Premier characterised the situation as seeing "the light at the end of the tunnel," saying teams are working to complete the reconciliations. House approval of the 2017 excess spending amount is a procedural step to regularise past discrepancies while the broader audit clearance continues.
Primary source: VINO