CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC SECTOR ACCOUNTING

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• After studying this chapter, readers will be able to:
• Understand the objective of public sector accounting
• Identifying the various users of Public sector accounting information
• Have good grasp of constitutional and regulatory framework as well as the concepts, principles and
bases of public sector accounting

What is public sector?

• The simplest definition of public sector is all organizations which are not privately owned and
operated, but established, run and financed by the government on behalf of the public.
• The definition conveys the idea that public sector consists of organizations where control lies in the
hands of public, as opposed to private owners.
• The objective of public sector is to provide services to the public.
• Profit making is not primary to this sector

Definitions:
• Accounting: -This refers to a systematic recording and analysis of financial transactions of a business,
or public sector.
• it is a generally a scientific study in which records of expenditure and income of a company,
individuals or government are kept coupled with other useful information for planning, decision
making and control.
Finance :A branch of economics which is concerned with resource allocation as well as resource
management, acquisition and investment.

Definition of Public Sector Accounting:

• Government finance (or, Public Sector Finance as it is commonly known, deals with the allocation of
resources in accordance with the budget constraint of a public sector organization, especially
government.
• It is a composite activities of analysing, summarizing, recording and interpreting the financial
transactions of the Government Ministries, Departments and Spending Agencies.

• R. A. Adams (2004) in his book “ Public Sector Accounting and Finance made simple” defines Public
sector accounting as a “ process of recording, communicating, summarizing, analysing and interpreting
government financial statements and statistics in aggregate and details; it is concerned with receipts,
custody and disbursement and rendering of stewardship of public funds entrusted.

OBJECTIVES OF PUBLIC SECTOR ACCOUNTING

The main purposes of public sector accounting are:

• Ascertaining the legitimacy of transactions and their compliance with established norms,
regulations and statutes. public sector disbursement should accord with the provisions, appropriate

1
 acts and financial regulations. There should be due authorizations for all payments so as to avoid an
act of fund misappropriation.
• providing evidence of stewardship: The act rendering stewardship is being able to account
transparently and diligently for the resources entrusted. Government and public sector operators are
obliged to display due diligence and sense of probity in the collection and disposal of public funds .
• Assisting planning and control: The future faces a lot risks and uncertainties. Therefore, mapping out
plans prevents an organization from drifting since plans of actions provides the focus of activities
which are being pursued. The unforeseen circumstance is built into plans so as to avoid or prevent
organization failure. The public sector establishments should act accordance with the mandate of the
government.
• Ensuring objective and timely reporting: Users of public sector accounting information are anxious to
bridge their knowledge gaps on what government is doing. they definitely treasure prompt and
accurate statistics to evaluate government performance.
• Evaluating costs incurred and benefits derived: In Public sector, it is difficult to measure the costs
and benefits in financial terms in all aspects. The analysis of cost- benefit assesses the economic and
social advantages (benefits) and disadvantages (costs) of alternative courses of actions, to ensure that
comfort of the citizens is well catered for.

Other objectives are:

• Providing basis for decision making

• highlighting various sources of revenues receivable and expenditure to be incurred
• identifying the source of funds for capital projects
• evaluating the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which the public sector institutions pursue
their goals and objectives
• ensuring that costs are matched by at least equivalent benefits accruing therefrom.
• providing details of outstanding long term commitments and financial obligations.
• providing means by which actual performance may be compared with the target set.
• Eliminating corruption
• Modernisation of the financial management system of the public sector entities;

USERS OF PUBLIC SECTOR ACCOUNTING INFORMATON:

• The users of public sector accounting information can be categorized into two namely; internal and
external users
• (i) Internal users: this consists of the people such as the president of the country, Ministers, secretary
to the treasury, accountant general, auditor general, chief executive officers of parastatals such as
CDC, CAMTEL, etc. and heads of government departments
• (ii) External users: This group comprises of : the National Assembly, members of the public, foreign
countries, international financial institutions such as international Monetary Fund(IMF) , Africa
Development Bank (ADB), World Bank; creditors both locally and internationally, political parties,
Trade Unions and Researchers. International rating agencies such Fitch, Morgan etc.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC SECTOR ACCOUNTING TO THE USERS.

• The internal users require the accounting information in order to ascertain the various levels of
regulatory compliance and whether the actual expenditure is in accordance with the budget.
• Further they would like to ascertain whether or not adequate safeguards are available for the
protection of public resources

2
 • Conversely , the external users would need the information to ascertain the financial viability of a
public sector organizations and the efficiency and effective management.

CONSTITUTIONAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK OF PUBLIC SECTOR ACCOUTING

The public sector accounting is regulated by the following:

• (i) The Constitution of a country. The constitution of the country is one of the legal frameworks that
regulate the receipt and disbursement of public funds.
• Auditor general’s office. The office of the auditor general is mandated by the constitution to audit all
government ministries and spending agencies. This is to ensure that accountability of government
resources is done. The auditor general’s report is submitted to the president and thereafter to
parliament.
• Accountant general’s office, an office mandated to prepare government financial statements.
• Finance (controls and Management) Act. The finance act of various countries provide guidance on
management and operation of government funds. The act would regulate on the accounting system,
books of accounts of accounts to be kept and the procedures to be followed in preparation of
government financial statements.
• Financial Regulations: These are manuals of government Ministries/ government departments which
deals with financial and accounting matters. The regulations set out the procedures and steps to
followed in treating most of government transactions

• Finance/Treasury Circular: These are administrative tools which are used to amend the existing
provisions of Financial Regulations, Public Service Rules and introduction of new policy guidelines. The
circulars are usually issued by Secretary to be Cabinet or the Secretary to the Treasury. In some cases
by the Permanent Secretary for Cabinet office or Ministry of Finance of course under the guidance of
their superior.
• Public Procurement Act: This is a procurement Act of each country which guides on government
procurements.

CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES APPLICABLE TO PUBLIC SECTOR ACCOUNTING

• concepts have been defined as broad basic assumptions which underlie the preparation of financial
statement of an enterprise. Public sector accounting is an integral but separate branch of financial
accounting sharing in common many concepts and principles applicable in the private sector. these
concepts include: Consistency, Materiality ,Periodicity, Duality, Historical, prudency, Going concern
etc.

BASES OF PUBLIC SECTOR ACCOUNTING

There are three bases on which financial statements of Public Sector Institutions are compiled. These are:
• The Cash Basis
• The Accrual Basis
• The Commitment Basis
• (i) The Cash Basis: This is a basis of accounting under which revenue is recorded only when cash is
received, and expenditure recognized only when cash is paid, irrespective of the fact that the
transaction might have occurred in the previous accounting period

3
Advantages of Cash Basis:

• It is simple to understand
• Its eliminates the existence of debtors and creditors
• It permits easy identification of those who authorize payments and collect revenue
• It allows for comparison between the amount provided in the budget and that actually spent.
• It saves time and easy to operate
• It permits the delegation of work in certain circumstances
• The cost of fixed assets is written off in the year of purchase resulting into fewer accounting entries

Disadvantages of Cash Basis

• It takes unrealistic view of financial transactions as only the settlement of liabilities recognized.
• It does not provide for depreciation since assets are written off in the year of purchase
• It does not convey an accurate picture of financial affairs at the end of year.
• It can not be used for economic decisions since it tends to hide basic information e.g. missing
information relating to fixed assets, debtors and creditors
• Its does accord with ‘matching concept’
*Modified Cash Basis: under this basis books of accounts are left open for a maximum of three months after
the end of year, so as to capture substantial amount of income or expenses relating to the year just ended

(ii) Accrual Basis

• Under this method, revenue is recognized when earned and expenditure acknowledged as liabilities
when known or benefits received, notwithstanding the fact that the receipts or payments of cash has
taken place wholly or partially in other accounting periods.
• It based on the principle of matching income and expenditure to the time a transaction occurs rather
than when payments are made or received. This means that an expense is recorded at the point
goods or services are received by an organisation rather than thirty days later when the invoice for
goods is paid. Similarly, income is recorded at the point the sale is made
• The accrual basis is practiced in private sector and all parastatals.
• The reason private sector uses this method is because private concern are for profit oriented
• Therefore, it is necessary to estimate the profit made in each period with the view to keeping
investment assets intact and making periodic distributions to shareholders by way of dividends.

Advantages of Accrual Basis:

• It takes a realistic view of financial transactions

• It gives an accurate picture of the state of financial affairs at the end of the accounting period
• It aligns itself with matching concept
• It can be used for both economic and investment decision-making as all parameters for performance
appraisal are available.
• It gives allowance for depreciation of assets used in generation revenue for the enterprise

Disadvantages of Accrual Basis

• It is difficult to understand ,especially by non accountants.

• It does not permit easy delegation of work in certain circumstances
4
(iii) Commitment Basis
• It is a basis that records anticipated expenditure evidenced by contract or purchase order.
• In public sector financing, budgetary and accounting systems are closely related to commitment basis

Advantages of Commitment Basis

• It is an aid to financial control since it is regarded as a charge made on budget provision.

• It can give a separate payment tabulation when it is required/requested

Advantages of commitment basis contd’

• It takes a realistic view of financial transactions

• It reveals an accurate picture of state of financial affairs at the end of accounting period.
• It aligns itself with matching concept
• It can be used for both economic and investment decision-making as all parameters for performance
appraisal are available.
• It gives allowance for depreciation of assets used in generation revenue for the enterprise

Disadvantages of Commitment Basis

• The system involves extra work. Actual figures have to be substituted for commitment provisions to
finally determine the running balances under sub-head of expenditure
• Over expenditure is more under commitment basis in the expectation that the government may
finally release funds to settle the obligations
• At the end of the financial year, all commitments that are subject of unfulfilled orders have to be
written back to reflect the exact picture of transactions which took place during the year.

COMPARISON BETWEEN GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTING AND PRIVATE SECTOR ACCOUNTING

• The main objective of commercial enterprise is to maximize profit while that of government is to
provide adequate welfare to people at reasonable costs.
• Government revenue is derived from the public in terms of taxation, fines, grants, fees, etc, where as
business concerns obtain their income from sale of goods and services
• In government financial transactions are recorded on ‘Cash basis’ while in private sector it is on
accrual basis.
• In Public sector accounting, tangible fixed assets such as land and building, plant and machinery are
not shown in the balance sheet where as, in private sector accounting they are reflected, showing
Historical Cost, Accumulated Depreciation and Net Book Value (NBV) of each

COMPARISON BETWEEN GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTING AND PRIVATE SECTOR ACCOUNTING

• In public sector accounting, current assets such as stocks and debtors are not shown on the balance
sheet where as in private sector accounting system both current assets and liabilities are shown.
• In government there is no Annual General Meeting (AGM) of stakeholders/shareholders, unlike the
private sector which has the AGM. In government what happens is just holding public briefing on
specific issues.
• In Public sector what operates mostly is the fund accounting, where as in private sector the
proprietary approach is adopted.
5
 Government accounting and the use of the accruals basis

5.1 Government accounting

Government accounting is the process of recording, analyzing, classifying, summarizing communicating and interpreting
financial information about government in aggregate and in detail reflecting transactions and other economic events
involving the receipt, spending, transfer, usability and disposition of assets and liabilities. The purposes of government
accounting are:

 To carry out the financial business of government in a timely, efficient and reliable manner (e.g. to make
payments, settle liabilities, collect sums due, buy and sell assets etc.) subject to necessary financial controls.

 To keep systematic, easily accessible accounting and documentary records as evidence of past transactions
and current financial status, so that detailed transactions can be identified and traced and all aggregates can
be conveniently broken down into their constituent parts.

 To provide periodic financial statements, containing appropriately classified financial information, as a basis
for (a) stewardship and accountability and (b) decision-making.

 To maintain financial records suitable for budgetary control, internal control and the needs of auditors.

 To provide means for effective management of government assets, liabilities, expenditures and revenues.

In government, the producers of accounting information are rarely qualified accountants. Therefore few have
experience of accrual accounting. But they usually belong to a separate cadre allowing for training and the acquisition
of specialist accounting skills. In some countries, those who supervise the accounting process are not themselves
trained in accounting. Accounts are kept for a wide variety of administrative entities: ministries, departments, taxing
authorities and spending units (including for instance hospitals, research centres, colleges, schools, police stations,
defence establishments). Accounting entities are spread throughout the country, from the capital city to the remotest
corners. Given such a spread, the capacity of accounting entities and of their staff is bound to vary considerably. In
order to ensure adequate accounting from such a wide range of entities, a government accounting system has to be:

 Relatively uniform

 Well-documented

 Simple to learn and operate

 Easy to consolidate

One of the challenges of accounting reform (for example introduction of accrual accounting or of a modern treasury
system1) is deciding where to stop. Reform cannot be conveniently brought to all accounting entities in one fell swoop,
so a border has to be defined within which the reform is to take place. Usually a small number of entities is responsible
for a large number/amount of transactions. The most logical choice for the purposes of reform is to address the needs
of these large entities. At the same time the accounting systems of entities not subject to the reform process will
require adaptation to allow the reformed system to perform effectively. The characteristics of the accounting system
(for instance the basis of accounting; the nature of financial statements) have to suit the needs and capacity of users.
An accounting system could be very good when compared with international accounting standards, but might be of
limited value to the country concerned, if there were few or no people acquainted with these standards.

A government accounting system normally has eight main components:

1
See paper four for a fuller discussion)
6
  Documents providing evidence of transactions

 Bank accounts through which payments and receipts are handled

 Accounting records (cash book, ledgers etc.)

 Procedures and controls

 A means of aggregation of accounting data

 Internal accounting reports

 External accounting reports (financial statements)

 Staff

Sub-systems of a government accounting system are as follows:

 General ledger (a system of classified ledger accounts allowing all revenues and expenditures to be sorted
into appropriate categories)

 Cash book

 Payroll

 Payables

 Receivables

 Assets and liabilities including cash management

The performance of government accounting systems varies from extremely good, down to utterly inadequate. Many
World Bank borrowers have inadequate accounting systems implying a range of difficulties in:

 carrying out day to day transactions at acceptable standards

 providing authentic and accessible records

 pinning responsibility on those alleged to have carried out corrupt activities

 achieving budgetary and internal control

 providing reliable time series data on expenditures, revenues and their components

Given such possibilities the need for accounting reform is obvious. It presents a number of issues:

 Basis of accounting cash, accrual or mixed?

 Orientation: control, analysis or strategic choice (or all three)?

 Scope: ministries, major accounting units, comprehensive?

 Human dimension: determinant of success or major constraint?

7
 Medium of accounting: manual, partially or fully computerized?

 Users: general or specific?

 Financial statements: whole of government, agency , or more specific?

8
5.2 Bases of accounting

There are four main bases of accounting:

 cash basis

 modified cash basis

 full accruals basis

 modified accruals basis

The cash basis measures cash flows at the time those flows actually take place. The modified cash basis allows a short
period of time after the year-end for settling liabilities of the year just ended (and treats this expenditure as occurring in
the year just ended). The full accrual basis records expenditures and revenues when they become due (i.e. in many
cases before the associated cash flows take place). It records assets and liabilities and is therefore associated with the
production of balance sheets. It is also associated with providing depreciation on assets with finite lives. The modified
accruals is similar to the full accruals basis, but it is simpler because it does not involve the capitalisation of fixed assets
(nor the provision of depreciation of fixed assets).

The basis of accounting determines the extent of information that an accounting system can collect and therefore
report. A pure, cash-based system can only report on cash balances and cash flows (inward and outward). But cash
payment or receipt is usually only a small element in the history of a transaction. For instance a purchase transaction
might go through the following stages, each of which could generate accounting information:

 Commitment of funds

 Issue of purchase order for the supply of goods

 Receipt of the goods and of the invoice claiming payment

 Payment of invoice

 De-commitment of excess funds committed

Pure cash accounting does not provide useful information for managing payables and receivables. In the above
example, an accrual system would show the amount owing to the supplier. Then when full payment occurred, the
amount owing would be extinguished. Of more practical importance is the lack of an accounting sub-system for
receivables in a pure cash-based system. Without this, managing revenues is far less efficient. For instance if sums due
are noted only in files, and not entered into a double-entry accounting system, they can easily escape attention.
Moreover the files may be displaced or lost. An accrual accounting system provides a systematic method of recording
and managing sums due, something which many governments badly lack.

5.3 Arguments for the cash basis

Why then is the cash basis the predominant basis of accounting for governments? The answer is that the cash basis is:

 Easy to learn and carry out. It requires care, but no special accounting skills.

 Well-adapted to the needs of budgetary control. Payment is definite. Strict budget control can be exercised
by comparing sums authorized with those actually spent.

 Easy to understand and verify.

9
  A statutory requirement in many countries.

In most governments the cash basis is used in conjunction with the commitment basis for budgetary control purposes.
Under the commitment basis, expected expenditures are first entered into the accounting system as commitments
(sometimes called obligations). Authorized expenditure (the available budget) is reduced by commitments which have
not been liquidated (i.e. not been followed by a cash payment). However, when the cash payment occurs, the sum
committed is extinguished.

5.4 Arguments for the accruals basis

The arguments for accrual accounting are as follows:

 Cash accounting does not generate enough useful information e.g. about payables and receivables.

 Only accrual accounting, provides adequate information on the full costs of operation, thus supporting
decision-making e.g. decisions either to place sub-contracts with private sector contractors or to carry out
the work in-house.

 Only accrual accounting generates reliable information on the full range of assets and liabilities.

 Only accrual accounting can generate comprehensive financial information about government e.g. a loan
which is written off has no impact on a cash-based statement, but under accrual accounting it diminishes
net worth.

These are strong and valid arguments. However, the possibility remains that accrual features could be added to a cash-
based accounting system. The Bank funds several treasury modernization projects. They aim to improve budgeting,
accounting and cash management. They all use the cash basis and in all cases accrual-based sub-systems are added to
cover payables and receivables and sometimes asset management (inventory and fixed assets). Moreover, liabilities
arising from government borrowing are tracked and accounted for outside the treasury system. Is this a satisfactory
halfway house?

5.5 Special needs of developing and transitional countries

What is a satisfactory halfway house depends on circumstances. It would not be satisfactory for those countries that
have adopted, or are aiming to adopt full accrual accounting. These are without exception rich countries. 2 The
following considerations are relevant to a decision by a developing or transitional country to adopt full accrual
accounting:

 Accrual accounting information is more difficult and more costly to produce and to use, than cash-based
accounting information.

 Part of the cost of using accrual-based data is the cost of understanding it. Accrual-based data cannot be
easily understood by non-accountants.

 The adoption of full accrual accounting is more complex and more costly than the simple cash basis. Asset
valuation is an example of complexity and cost.

 Modifying cash-based systems to produce some accrual-type data may make sense.

 Poor countries usually lack accounting skills, and therefore have few trained people who can either produce
complex accounting information or use it.

2
The case of Mongolia seems to be an exception. It has been attempting to adopt full accrual accounting. No assessment has yet been
made of the degree of success.
10
  The accounting systems of many developing countries suffer from a range of serious defects even though
they employ the simplest accounting basis (cash). There may be higher priorities for the use scarce
accounting resources.

 Technical assistance could be used to supplement national accounting skills. This might permit the
introduction of accrual accounting, but how far would such assistance go in producing a working, accrual
accounting system for the nation as a whole?

5.6 International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS)

The Public Sector Committee (PSC) of the International Federation of Accountants formulates IPSAS. The preface to
IPSAS explains:

 IPSAS are intended for national, regional and local governments and related government entities such as
agencies, boards and commissions.

 At present such entities have diverse reporting practices and there are no authoritative international
standards.

 IPSAS are authoritative requirements established by PSC to improve the quality of financial reporting in the
public sector around the world.

 PSC addresses governmental needs by issuing and promoting benchmark guidance supported by education,
research and dissemination.

 PSC’s primary focus is ensuring that its pronouncements are consistent with those of the International
Accounting Standards Committee.

 PSC is concerned with “general purpose financial statements”.

 IPSAS apply to the published financial statements of public sector entities except for government business
entities which are to follow International Accounting Standards (IASs).

 IPSAS do not over-ride statutory or other official national requirements, but PSC encourages governments
and national standard-setters to adopt IPSAS.

PSC started work on the basis of four alternative accounting bases: cash basis; modified cash basis; modified accrual
basis; and accruals basis. The cash and modified cash bases were defined as being practically the same (the only
difference being that under the modified basis the books were left open for a period of months after the year end for
the settlement of bills). The modified accrual and accrual basis differ principally in that the latter requires the
capitalization of fixed assets and their depreciation. PSC assumed that countries would evolve along a continuum
between cash and full accruals.

However, support for the two modified bases was judged to be inadequate (despite vociferous opposition from Canada)
and the focus was shifted to two bases: cash and full accruals. Thus to comply with IPSAS a government must either use
the cash or the full accruals basis for its principal general-purpose financial statements. Using the full accruals basis
implies financial statements similar to those produced by large corporations.

PSC has produced one standard for the cash basis and is in course of producing a series of standards similar to those of
IAS for the accruals basis. For a government entity to be in compliance with IPSAS its general-purpose financial
statements must not mix bases of accounting (i.e. must be produced either on the cash or on the full accruals basis), and
they must consolidate all the entities controlled by that entity. In other words a national government must produce
fully consolidated financial statements for all the entities which it controls. This is an elegant solution to the
shenanigans following the coming into force of the Maastricht Treaty. Governments changed the definition of the
11
reporting entity at will in order to fall inside the Maastricht criteria (general government budget deficit no more than
3%, and government borrowing no more than 60% of Gross Domestic Product). However elegant the solution, very few
governments of developing countries consolidate accounting information to this level, very few are able to do so and
even fewer are likely to wish to do so.

Other issues facing the IPSAS program are as follows:

 The virtually endless process of producing IAS look-alike standards.

 Lack of authority on the part of IFAC in securing adoption of IPSAS and a possible vested interest in
recommending accrual-based accounts (as IFAC membership is made up of professional institutes of
accounting primarily concerned with private sector issues).

 Catering to the needs of a small number of developed countries while ignoring the needs of a large number
of developing countries.

 Excessive enthusiasm for an accounting model suitable for a sophisticated economy without clear
indications of its limitations in less developed environments.

 Under-estimation of the likely difficulties which governments will face in adopting IPSAS, especially the
requirement for fully consolidated financial statements on a single accounting basis.

Despite such issues there is strong support for IPSAS including virtual IMF endorsement in its new approach to
Government Finance Statistics.

CHAPTER TWO
12
 SOURCES AND USES OF GOVERNMENT REVENUE

SOURCES:

The following points highlight the nine main sources of government revenue. The sources are: 1. Tax 2. Rates
3. Fees 4. Licence Fee 5. Surplus of the public sector units 6. Fine and penalties 7. Gifts and grants 8. Printing
of paper money 9. Borrowings.

1. Tax:

A tax is a compulsory levy imposed by a public authority against which tax payers cannot claim anything. It is
not imposed as a penalty for only legal offence. The essence of a tax, as distinguished from other charges by
the government, is the absence of a direct quid pro quo (i.e., exchange of favour) between the tax payer and
the public authority.

Tax has three important features:

(i) It is a compulsory contribution, to the state from the citizen. Anyone refusing to pay tax is punished under
law. Nobody can object to taxation on the ground that he is not getting the benefit of certain state services,

(ii) It is the personal obligation of the individual to pay taxes under all circumstances,

(iii) There is no direct relationship between benefit and tax payment.

2. Rates:

Rates refer to local taxation, i.e., taxation levied by (or for) local rather than central government. Normally
rates are proportional to the estimated rentable value of business and domestic properties. Rates are often
criticised as being unrelated to income.

3. Fees:

Fee is a payment to defray the cost of each recurring service undertaken by the government, primarily in the
public interest.

4. Licence fee:

A licence fee is paid in those instances in which the government authority is invoked simply to confer a
permission or a privilege.

5. Surplus of the public sector units:

The government acts like a business- person and the public acts like its customers. The government may
either sell goods or render services like train, city bus, electricity, transport, posts and telegraphs, water
supply, etc. The government also earns revenue from the production of commodities like steel, oil, life-saving
drugs, etc.

13
6. Fine and penalties:

They are the charges imposed on persons as a punishment for contravention of a law. The main purpose of
these is not to raise revenue from the public but to force them to follow law and order of the country.

7. Gifts and grants:

Gifts are voluntary contribution from private individuals or non-government donors to the government fund
for specific purposes such as relief fund, defence fund during war or an emergency. However, this source
provides a small portion of government revenue.

8. Printing of paper money:

It is another source of revenue of the government. It is a method of creating extra resources. This method is
normally avoided because if once this method of financing is started, it becomes difficult to stop it.

9. Borrowings:

Borrowings from the public is another source of government revenue. It includes loans from the public in the
form of deposits, bonds, etc. and also from the foreign agencies and organisations.

Uses:

14