Africa-Press – Cape verde. The Government today criticized PAICV for “insinuating” that Banco de Cabo Verde (BCV) was not autonomous in the auction process launched by INPS and “raising suspicions” about the management of resources mobilized to combat Covid-19.
The Government’s accusation was made by the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Janine Lélis, in reaction to the PAICV’s political declaration in today’s parliamentary session, which accused the Government of attacking the autonomy and independence of the BCV, of interfering in the management of the National Institute of Social Security (INPS) and “intransparency” in the management of resources mobilized in the fight against covid-19.
“In the absence of other arguments, the PAICV raises a suspicion regarding what the management of funds is and how this suspicion is reached, making a calculation, it was found that three million were managed to be raised and the report of the The Court of Auditors says that the expenses are justified at four million and the PAICV’s conclusion is that nine million are unjustified, but we are already used to this PAICV approach”, he highlighted.
According to the official, the revenue collection process was done through budgetary loan aid, remembering that the State has the margin to manage it in the way it needs to finance the budget.
“The balance from one year can be carried over to the next and it is this mechanism that has been updated and you have to make an additional effort to really be able to conclude that there is intransparency in relation to the management of covid-19”, he added, highlighting that the process took place normally.
Regarding the auction process launched by the INPS, Janine Lélis argued that it is a new process, stressing that the Bank of Cape Verde does not supervise the INPS.
The position taken by BCV from the moment it received the banks’ complaint, adding that after that an investigation was carried out taking into account the aforementioned auction, could represent a systemic risk.
“Everything here is new, meaning that it is a new fact for the BCV, for the INPS and for the Government. The BCV has already carried out the investigation, which it decided to carry out and has already issued a statement with its conclusions. We must have the maturity to draw the lessons and conclusions from this statement, adopt the necessary measures to better guarantee INSP’s investments to guarantee the functioning of the country’s financial system”, he explained.
The BCV suspended the INPS auctions, which began in December 2023, following complaints made by a group that brought together the majority of banks participating in the auctions, which alleged a lack of transparency in the process.
In a statement released last Friday, March 1st, he considered the banks’ complaint legitimate and well-founded and declared that the INPS auction process violated the transparency process and could be annulled.
The BCV maintained that the refusal on the part of the INPS to make auction regulations available, as well as the failure to previously share the formula for calculating the evaluation of proposals, appears to be a procedure that can be objectively qualified as a lack of transparency.
A situation that, he stated, is not reasonably compatible with tenders promoted by any entity, especially when it is of a public nature.
The Central Bank also stated that it had found that new mid-course apportionment rules were introduced, incorporated into the invitation letter for the 2nd auction, which are not included in the approved regulations, a fact that corroborates the conclusions of an objective lack of transparency in the process.
On the other hand, he added that if he had acted in time there was a risk that, in a short space of time, deposits amounting to 3.5 billion Cape Verdean escudos would be demobilized from some banks to a single bank that would benefit from the assumptions/criteria considered to determine the results of the auctions.
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