Progressive Bulgaria Seeks Three Audits by National Audit Office.
Progressive Bulgaria proposes three major audits by the National Audit Office covering state finances, social insurance and the financial management of the Road Infrastructure Agency.
The aim is to provide a stable institutional starting point for future reforms and sustainable economic policy, the MP commented.
This was announced by Konstantin Prodanov, chair of Parliament’s Budget and Finance Committee, and Stefan Belchev, chair of the Committee on Economic Policy, Investment and Innovation. The draft decisions have already been submitted and cover three areas: the consolidated fiscal program, the state social insurance budget and the financial management of the Road Infrastructure Agency.
The governing majority proposes that the National Audit Office carry out three large-scale audits to provide a clear picture of the state of public finances and the accumulated effects of policies over the past six years. According to them, instead of temporary parliamentary committees with limited effect, the government is relying on a review by the independent audit institution to provide a professional assessment of key financial processes in the state.
The first audit concerns the consolidated fiscal program at the Ministry of Finance, Stefan Belchev said. It will analyze the effect of legislative changes on revenues, expenditures and the budget balance from 2020 onward. It is expected to examine personnel costs, automatic indexations, capital programs and decisions to expand the administration, as well as the reasons why revenues have failed to compensate for rising expenditures.
The second audit will focus on state social insurance. Progressive Bulgaria wants an audit of spending on pensions, supplements and administration, including the implementation of the Swiss rule, for the period since 2020. It will cover the expenditures of the National Social Security Institute on pensions and the payments made by the Social Ministry for various types of social support.
The increases in pensions under the Swiss rule, changes to the pension formula, the rise in the minimum pension and the extraordinary recalculations in recent years will be analyzed in detail.