It had $80.2 million worth of delayed refunds and late payments of bills in the year that ended March 2004.

It sat - for anything from three to a mind-boggling 31 months from the invoice date - on $49.2 million that was due to its suppliers of good and services.

And it either did not pay back, or was slow to refund, $31 million in deposits and other monies held in trust for third parties, according to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

The chief culprit was the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras), which for more than three years did not return $28.1 million in excess taxes.

The Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board, meanwhile, sat on $2.1 million belonging to CPF members who had died more than two years ago without nominating beneficiaries.

And the Law Ministry was slow to distribute trust monies of $276,302 to minors and discharged bankrupts or their creditors.

This tardiness by the Government in paying up, the PAC said, could raise the cost of doing business for some companies, while the delayed CPF refunds "could cause undue hardship, especially to intended recipients who have lost their principal breadwinner".

The PAC was especially disturbed by the Government's tardiness in paying its suppliers.

In its report, released yesterday, it said that bills should be paid "as speedily as possible, so as to portray the civil service as efficient and fair in its business dealings".

It added: "Delays in collecting payment affect the cash flow of suppliers and increase the cost of doing business in Singapore, which could adversely impact their viability, particularly for small and medium enterprises.

Small businesses Today spoke to said the Government's paying patterns are well-known.

"Generally, getting payment is not easy because (the civil servants) have to go from one department to another," said the owner of a small consultancy firm.

Another businessman suggested the Government pay interest for late payments or refunds: "This is only fair since the Government imposes late fees on others."

Apart from the delayed payments, the committee found accounting lapses in 10 ministries and seven statutory boards.

For instance, the CPF Board did not collect $2.18 million in employers' CPF contributions for more than three years, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore did not get the President's approval for a staff gratuity scheme. Various ministries also breached guidelines for government procurement.

Lax controls led the Government to overpay $2.1 million - an improvement from the $9 million reported in the previous year.

The previous year, the civil defence had delayed making payments to the tune of $4.7 million.


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