Turkish delegation from the Ministry of Treasury and Finance visit the National Audit Office

A group of senior officials from the Turkish Ministry of Treasury and Finance are presently on a study visit in Malta in connection with a Europe Aid project on Technical Assistance for Enhanced Capacity for Public Sector Accounting (PSAS) Project.  Today, they were hosted at the National Audit Office for a number of presentations related essentially to the Office’s new financial auditing assignments as a result of the introduction of accrual accounting across the public service.

In his welcome address, Charles Deguara, Auditor General, made brief reference to the historical development of the National Audit Office, emphasising particularly the fundamental importance of the 1997 legislative amendments which effectively guaranteed the total autonomy of the Office from the Executive.  Henceforth, the NAO’s full independence, a sine qua non condition for any effective and reliable national audit institution as highlighted in the INTOSAI Lima and Mexico Declarations, became entrenched in our Constitution.

The extensive keynote address by Noel Camilleri, Deputy Auditor General, focusing on ‘Public Finance Management Reform – Accrual Accounting and ERP’ was complimented by other interesting presentations made by Brian Vella and Tanya Mercieca, Assistant Auditors General, William Peplow, Senior Manager, and Simon Camilleri, Manager IT Section. These presentations will be available on the NAO (Malta) website.

This one-week visit to Malta was coordinated by Dr. Jens Heiling, Senior Manager, Financial Accounting and Advisory Services, Ernst & Young.