(1) Within a period of 3 months after the close of each financial year the Accountant General shall prepare, certify and submit to the Director of Audit as many copies as the Director of Audit may require of the accounts of Saint Lucia for that financial year showing the financial position of Saint Lucia on the last day of such financial year.
(2) The accounts of Saint Lucia for the purposes of subsection (1) shall be prepared in accordance with the accounting principles as stated by the Accountant General or specified in the certificate attached to such accounts.
(3) The Minister may by direction in writing addressed to the Accountant General extend the period within which such accounts may be transmitted and any directions so given shall be laid before Parliament at its next meeting.
(4) Accounts to be transmitted by the Accountant General under subsection (1) shall show fully the financial position of the Consolidated Fund on the last day of each financial year and shall include—
(a) a statement of assets and liabilities;
(b) an annual abstract of revenue and expenditure by heads;
(c) a comparative statement of actual and estimated revenue by sub-heads;
(d) a comparative statement of actual and estimated expenditure by sub-heads;
(e) a statement of balances on advance accounts analyzed under the various categories set out in section 29;
(f) a statement of balances on deposit accounts;
(g) a statement of outstanding loans made from the Consolidated Fund, by annual and aggregate receipts and payments;
(h) a statement of public debt;
(i) a statement of contingent liabilities;
(j) a statement of investments showing the funds on behalf of which the investments were made;
(k) a statement of arrears of revenue by sub-heads;
(l) a statement of losses of cash and stores and of abandoned claims;
(m) a statement of the Contingency Fund Account;
(n) a statement of changes in financial position; and
(o) other statement as Parliament may require.
(5) The Director of Audit shall submit to the Minister, not later than 3 months from the date of receipt of certified copies of financial statements from the Accountant General, such certified copies with his or her opinion thereon.
(6) For the purposes of this section, “accounts of Saint Lucia” means the accounts that relate directly to the central Government.