Deputy Auditor General: Audit results indicate poor management of grants and subsidies

The Deputy Auditor General, Bezad Halilaj, participated in the annual conference on the topic “Enhancing public oversight and institutional accountability in Kosovo” organised by the Group for Legal and Political Studies (GLPS), GAP Institute and the Institute for Development Policy (INDEP). The conference was also attended by representatives of central institutions, experts, and the British Ambassador Nicholas Abbott.

The conference sessions were held under four panels, where the participants presented their perspectives on topics such as: Recruitment in public institutions; Public Procurement; Grants and Subsidies as well as Permits, Licenses and Fees.

During the third panel discussions regarding the topic on Grants and Subsidies, the Deputy Auditor General said that the audit results indicate poor management of grants and subsidies. Therefore, the National Audit Office will focus even more on those topics in the future.

He said that the management of grants and subsidies is unquestionably one of the main scopes of the NAO and the information presented at this roundtable will serve to identify and propose new topics on the relevant audits, be it compliance or performance one.

“Grants and subsidies are examined regularly when conducting the audit of the annual financial statements in almost all the budget organisations, in order to assess whether they have been properly granted and managed and give recommendations on annual basis. In 2021 alone, we have given 95 recommendations in total,” said Halilaj, further stating that the audits have identified different shortcomings on the way they have been managed, which were as a result of the lack of internal control in the budget organisations.

“Thus, this area requires quite a focused approach by conducting effective controls, monitoring and rigorous oversight in order to further develop the public accountability,” Mr. Halilaj said.