Strong institutions and responsible management of public funds are the foundation of citizens’ trust, and audit is one of the key mechanisms for ensuring control, accountability and preventing irregularities. In this direction, two significant steps have been taken in the past period – the promotion of cooperation between the Ministry of Finance and the State Audit Office (SAO) and the establishment of a national exam and certification of internal auditors in the public sector, Macedonian Minister of Finance Gordana Dimitrieska-Kochoska said in a social media post Saturday.
“By establishing the national exam, we are creating conditions for stronger professional capacities in institutions, more efficient internal audit and further strengthening of mechanisms for legal and responsible management of public funds. External and internal audit have different roles, but a common goal – to manage public funds legally, for their intended purpose, efficiently and responsibly,” the FinMin said in her post.
Dimitrieska-Kochoska notes that both processes are part of broader activities to improve the financial control system and bring it closer to European standards and practices. Both the improvement of institutional cooperation with the State Audit Office (SAO) and the professionalization of internal audit contribute to the fulfillment of the obligations and recommendations within the framework of Chapter 32 – Financial Control, as well as to the implementation of the reform processes envisaged by the Reform Agenda.
