Corea made that statement in response to potential criticisms put to her when she appeared before the Commission of Inquiry (COI) last week.

In the criticism, the government said Corea failed “to appreciate the international context of the COVID-19 pandemic” during her audit of government’s controversial stimulus programme.

Using the UK government as a comparison to bolster its argument and to further illustrate the international context, it was suggested that the UK effectively suspended the rules for the proper management of public money to support the economy in the first four months of the pandemic.

According to COI attorney Bilal Rawat, the criticism suggested that the problem was not isolated to the BVI, but instead, it was one where governments around the world of all sizes were struggling.

Audit Department sought to reduce risks

But Corea said her office did mention the global context in its report.

“I wanted to underscore that, even though we did not apply or correlate BVI government to an international jurisdiction, we had some sentiment as to what was going on around the world,” Corea noted.

In her response to the government’s criticism, Corea further said: “The mere fact that the Premier’s Office is justifying foregoing controls and normal public financial standards to achieve speed and urgency, signals that there may be a breakdown in the understanding of government’s fiduciary responsibility and stewardship in managing the public purse.”

“What the Internal Audit Department sought to do was not to pronounce failure on the government’s response to the pandemic but to evaluate what was done with the hope of offering recommendations that would reduce risks, inform future decision and improve programme outcomes”.