OECD Supreme Audit Institutions: sustainability of public finances and auditing new technologies are challenges

Rising debt and social spending are part of the main audit challenges faced by the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs). Other challenges are auditing artificial intelligence and quantum computing, as well as performing real-time audits with IT tools. Finding solutions to these issues was the focus of a meeting of the Auditors-General / Heads of Supreme Audit Institutions of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Member States and Associate Members in Paris. The meeting was attended by Goritsa Grancharova - Kozhareva, Vice-President of the Bulgarian National Audit Office, Nadezhda Nikolova, Head of Department in the Performance Audits Directorate and Kosta Stoyanchev, Advisor to the Vice-President.

Sustainability of public finances has emerged as a major challenge for OECD countries. In his speech, Mr Gene Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States, warned of the danger of rising public debt. Increasing social security spending is also a long-term problem, especially in Europe, emphasized Mr. Kay Scheller, President of the SAI of Germany. According to the participants in the forum, the role of SAIs is to inform the public about important issues in the most objective and understandable way. A key tool for this are performance audits, which show how effective policies and programmes are.

OECD SAI leaders agreed that the SAIs should be well prepared for future audit challenges. The SAI of the United States is a good example as it is building the scientific capacity for forecast and planning of future trends. Mr. Dodaro believes challenging audit topics will be artificial intelligence and quantum computing because of their relevance to data protection in the public sector. Participants at the event also identified other challenges facing external audit in the public sector, including maintaining the independence of SAIs, sustainable management, migration, and conducting real-time audits using IT tools.