MEFMI Equips Auditors with Knowledge and Skills for Conducting Performance Audits of Public Sector Debt.

According to the Debt Management Performance Assessments (DeMPAs) conducted jointly by MEFMI and the World Bank during the past seven years, performance audit of public sector is weak in most countries. The weakness is partly a result of limited attention that is given to performance audit as compared to financial audits. Yet debt management is one of the key components in the Government’s balance sheet that requires strong accountability mechanisms in order to safeguard public funds. It is against this background that MEFMI organized a regional training on performance audit of public sector debt for officials from internal audit departments of the client institutions as well as from supreme audit officers who are involved in auditing public sector debt.

The training was conducted from the 2^nd to 6^th June 2014 in Windhoek, Namibia.  The Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Namibia Ministry of Finance, Mr. I-Ben Nashandi, officially opened the workshop. In his opening remarks, Mr. Nashandi commended MEFMI for responding effectively to the region’s need for enhanced capacity in public sector debt auditing. He emphasized the need for countries in the region to regularly conduct both performance and financial audits of public debt management to enhance accountability, transparency and adherence to international best practices.

The objectives of the workshop were to impart practical skills needed for effective auditing of public sector debt, knowledge on public debt management processes and procedures, as well as to introduce participants to the tools used in sovereign debt management.  This was done through the rigorous course content which covered issues on evolving sound practice in auditing public debt, based on international standards that have been developed by a network of supreme audit institutions. Some of the topics covered during the workshop were the key concepts in public debt management, recent developments in public debt, public debt and macroeconomic linkages, operational risk management on public debt management as well as public debt auditing concepts, principles and guidelines. Participants discussed case studies to reinforce the concepts and methodologies covered during the workshop.

The workshop was facilitated by a regional expert, a MEFMI Fellow and three MEFMI staff. It   was attended by 37 officials from 12 MEFMI member countries.  The officials transcended all levels of Government and Central Bank internal audit departments, and the Auditor Generals’ Offices.

The major achievement of the workshop was that participants were equipped with practical skills that are required to conduct performance auditing of public sector debt. Participants were also introduced to conceptual issues in sovereign debt management procedures and performance standards. The workshop also facilitated sharing of public debt auditing experiences. Discussions were also held on evolving international sound practices in public debt auditing. It is expected that the knowledge gained will enable participants to undertake more comprehensive and knowledgeable auditing of debt management functions in MEFMI member countries.