site.btaAudit Office Head Tzvetkov Sees Need to Refocus Audits on Public Finances Absorption

Audit Office Head Tzvetkov Sees Need to Refocus Audits on Public Finances Absorption

Sofia, November 19 (BTA) - There is a need to change the focus of audits from assessing the legality of expenditures to assessing the efficient and economical absorption of public finances, said here on Thursday Bulgarian National Audit Office (BNAO) President Tzvetan Tzvetkov. He opened a conference on "The Role of External Audit in Effective Public Sector Governance", organized on the occasion of the 135th anniversary of BNAO's establishment and 20 years since it was re-established.

BNAO must track each lev and euro and make sure they are used properly and are bringing added value. This will contribute to having public services of higher quality, protect public interests and help the government implement its programme policies, Tzvetkov said. In its recent history, BNAO has conducted over 8,500 audit reports over a period of 20 years, he added.

Deputy Prime Minister for EU funds and economic policy Tomislav Donchev said that BNAO's biggest challenge in the past 20 years was to shatter Bulgarians' traditional perception that budget control is an instrument that is repressive and always sanctioning. In these years, BNAO has affirmed itself as an institution helping better manage budgetary and public finds. Today's challenge for BNAO is to face the citizens and detect their problems and concerns, he went on to say.

This means that the Office should direct its audits towards higher quality services and determine if a problem is being solved in the best way possible, such as the one with refugees, the Deputy PM said. Thanks to its adequate findings, BNAO plays an important role in reforming a number of sectors, Donchev noted.

The conference, organized by BNAO, was attended by European Court of Auditors President Vitor Caldeira, EUROSAI (European Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions) President and President of the Dutch Court of Audit, Arno Visser, Vice Chair of the European Parliament's Budgetary Control Committee Igor Soltes, along with representatives of the Legislature and Executive.