Auditor General’s Office seeks MVR 133.5M budget for next year

The Auditor General’s Office has proposed a budget of MVR 133.5 million for the upcoming year, which has been submitted to the Parliament for consideration.

The office submitted a total proposed budget of MVR 133,590,265 to the Public Accounts Committee, including MVR 43.5 million earmarked for Public Sector Investment Programmes (PSIP).

Presenting the proposed budget to the committee, Auditor General Hussain Niyazy said that MVR 56.9 million of the MVR 134.2 million allocated to the office for the current year has been utilized to date. He projected that a further MVR 45 million would be spent before the end of the year, resulting in an estimated year-end surplus of MVR 31 million. He explained that the budget for the upcoming year was prepared taking the unutilized funds into account.

According to Niyazy, the office plans to conduct a total of 394 audits next year. The planned audits will cover state institutions, state-owned enterprises, financial institutions, and several audits that are currently underway.

Providing an update on the office’s performance this year, Niyazy said 183 audit reports have been published to date. He added that work remains ongoing on 259 audits, the majority of which are expected to be completed by the end of the year.

The audits scheduled for next year include:

• Financial and compliance audits of 61 state institutions
• 106 audits of local councils
• 6 audits of public funds and schemes
• 22 audits of foreign-funded projects
• 40 financial audits of state-owned enterprises
• 4 audits of financial institutions
• 5 audits required under the budget and Fiscal Transparency Act
• 3 audits related to state debt and guarantees
• 6 performance audits
• 8 special audits
• 7 information system audits
• 6 environmental audits
• 120 carry-over audits from the current year

The Auditor General’s Office is an independent and autonomous institution established under the Constitution of the Republic of Maldives and the Audit Act, and is headed by the Auditor General.

The office’s primary responsibilities include auditing and reporting on the financial statements of state offices, councils, state-owned enterprises, and all entities receiving allocations from the state budget. It is also mandated to assess whether state resources are being utilized economically, efficiently, and in a results-oriented manner. In addition, the office is responsible for ensuring that the management and expenditure of state funds and assets are carried out in accordance with relevant laws and regulations.