Features and Functions of Supreme Audit Institutions
Supreme audit institutions are national agencies responsible for auditing government revenue and spending. Their legal mandates, reporting relationships, and effectiveness vary, reflecting different governance systems and government policies. But t...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2012
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2001/10/2011705/features-functions-supreme-audit-institutions http://hdl.handle.net/10986/11363 |
| Summary: | Supreme audit institutions are national
agencies responsible for auditing government revenue and
spending. Their legal mandates, reporting relationships, and
effectiveness vary, reflecting different governance systems
and government policies. But their primary purpose is to
oversee the management of public funds and the quality and
credibility of governments' reported financial data. In
the past the World Bank and other donors often established
parallel auditing systems for their projects, undermining
developing countries' supreme audit institutions, on
whose work they could not always rely. Equally problematic
have been projects that encouraged performance auditing but
ignored basic weaknesses in financial management. In recent
years the Bank has tried to strengthen oversight agencies
such as supreme audit institutions. This note is intended to
help Bank staff appreciate the role and nature of these
institutions, particularly in managing public spending,
ensuring financial accountability, and strengthening public institutions. |
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