PS-DBM has P3B in high yield deposits, fund source unknown

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THE Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) has been keeping cash deposits amounting to P3.001 billion in a high-yield savings account (HYSA) for over five years now, the Commission on Audit revealed.

Inquiry by government auditors with PS-DBM officials failed to clarify where the sum came from, but the COA said the funds belong to the national government and should therefore be returned to the national treasury.

“According to the OIC-Director AFG (Administrative and Finance Group), the fund source of the P3 billion deposited with the DBP (Development Bank of the Philippines) could not be specifically identified. Also, the High Yield Savings account has been established for more than five years and has remained inactive,” the audit team noted.

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Why the PS-DBM kept such a big amount deposited for half a decade is a puzzle to auditors as they pointed out that the agency is supposed to use the funds entrusted to it, not invest them for gains.

“It is not in PS’s mandate to make investments and it has no authority to invest in High Yield Savings account. The practice of investing cash in High Yield Savings account, therefore, deviates from its mandate of procurement of CSEs (common use supplies and equipment) which requires utilization of funds,” the team said.

The existence of the account was discovered following the review of the Cash in Bank—Time Deposits/ Local Currency.

In 2020, the COA had also questioned another HYSA maintained by the PS-DBM at the Land Bank of the Philippines, causing the account to be terminated and the amount it held transferred to the agency’s current account.

However, the high yield account with the DBP has not moved but has earned interest income totaling P1.363 million which was turned over to the Bureau of Treasury on March 18, 2022.

The COA required the head of the PS-DBM Treasury Division to terminate the high yield account and remit the entire amount of P3 billion to the BTr.

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