Government audit five years late, lacking
More than five years after the close of the 2008 fiscal year, the National Audit Authority (NAA) on Thursday released its audit into the government’s financial management in 2008. The 38-page report is only the third such audit carried out since the department opened in 2000 and began operations in 2002. “The objective of this dissemination is to inform the general public and to help the government in improving public finance and cooperation by mentioning any shortfalls in the previous implementation [of the budget],” said NAA General Director Som Kim Suor at the launch of the report at the Cambodiana Hotel. Among the shortfalls highlighted in the report was insufficient examination of tax fees, incomplete tax declarations by numerous companies, the lack of a business census, and a faulty procurement process for government agencies. Ms. Kim Sour said the report had been sent to the National Assembly and relevant ministries to carry out suggested reforms. … San Chey, a fellow with the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability in East Asia and the Pacific, a regional body that urges greater government transparency, said the audit was flawed. “I think the distance between 2008 and 2014 is too far—it is an expired report,” he said. “They found the problems from 2008, so the people involved could have corrected those problems [since], meaning the report is useless.” …
Hul Reaksmey
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-audit-five-years-late-lacking-57355/
