5 April 2013
Phnom Penh, Cambodia – On-the-job training is known to be an effective approach to putting technical skills into practice. By adopting this approach, GIZ’s National Audit Authority Programme helps Cambodia’s National Audit Authority (NAA) strengthen its capacity and team skills of auditors in charge of auditing at the Central Bank. Auditors at the Central Bank are mainly responsible for monetary policy and bank supervision of the Kingdom of Cambodia.
Development of Audit Guidelines listed as, ‘an urgent task’
Momentarily, the NAA is working to urgently finalize the (draft) Audit Guideline for the Central Bank. At the same time, staff training is underway with the aim to raise the quality of independent audits.
In 2008, NAA initiated an audit at the Central Bank and Parliament discussed its audit findings in 2012. In coming years, NAA Central Bank audits are planned to continue. Guidelines would aid this process, and provide a foundation for auditors to work from.
Audit Working Group overcomes challenges through training
Her Excellency, Auditor General Som Kimsuor, recently established a new Working Group to conduct audits at the Central Bank to aid the process. However, as audit topics have evolved from previous ones, the newly established Working Group is anticipated to face some difficulties.
To overcome their challenges, GIZ’s NAA Programme engaged a German audit specialist, Dr. Uwe Roger Schreiner, to facilitate hands-on training for the audit team responsible for the Central Bank audit. The objectives of the training that took place on 11-15 March 2013, included:
1) Contextualizing the (draft) Audit Guideline to better suit Cambodian needs;
2) Training the Working Group on the audit process – from planning to reporting – at the Central Bank by providing some best practice examples from the German Bundesbank; and
3) Drafting the Audit Programme for the audit at the Central Bank.
The result of this work will be discussed with the Working Group and included in the Audit Guideline.
Trainings deliver solutions. moving the process forward
As a result from the training, the Audit Guideline on the Central Bank will be restructured to comply with the general standards of the INTOSAI. The Working Group will continue to refine the Guideline’s content and will submit the final product to the Auditor General for approval. Training participants have not only developed their professional capacity and technical knowledge through these trainings, they also feel more confident to conduct the audit at the Central Bank.
It is a challenging task for NAA to perform an audit on a specialized institution, such as the Central Bank. The Guideline was developed to aid this process. As the Guideline is a ‘living document’, its drafting is just the beginning a longer process ahead. To ensure its effectiveness, the Guideline must be tested and regularly updated to reflect changes in the Central Bank, and assist with the development of new audit methodology.
For more information on GIZ Support to the National Audit Authority Project, please contact:
Mr. Juergen Lehmberg Team Leader Tel: (855) 12 333 101
Email: [email protected]