After an audit, we not only produce a detailed report with findings, but also make recommendations - concrete suggestions on how the deficiencies identified can be addressed. The impact of the audit depends on the recommendations being properly formulated and implemented.

AUTHOR

Laura Stračinskienė
Head of Planning and Impact Department
E-mail: [email protected]

By making recommendations to the audited organisations, we monitor whether the proposed measures are actually implemented and what benefits they bring to society. We are currently following up more than 100 significant recommendations from 66 public audits. They cover almost all areas of public governance: environment, energy, health, justice and others.

Each year, in March and September, we produce a comprehensive report on the implementation of the recommendations, which summarises progress and highlights remaining challenges. We have just published a report on the implementation of the recommendations for the last six months.

We are encouraged by the positive developments in almost all areas of the public sector following the implementation of the public audit recommendations, most notably in the areas of health, transport, justice and health care.

• A one-stop platform to strengthen the competences of healthcare and pharmacy professionals has been launched.
• Decisions have been taken to address the accessibility of addiction diseases treatment services - more services in all regions of Lithuania, reduced queues, early diagnosis.
• Improved supervision of bailiffs and notaries has led to a reduction in errors and to the timely correction of identified deficiencies.

However, there are still outstanding recommendations whose implementation would make a significant contribution to positive change in the public sector.

• The use of state budget money for the provision of data services in the state information systems managed by the Centre of Registers is not decreasing.
• It is not clear how much and what kind of state real estate is needed in the long term.
• The preparedness of health facilities for emergency situations is still pending.
   

It takes more than a year to see the benefits that audits bring to society. It is a slow process, but This is not a quick process, but lasting and efficient change can only be achieved by systematically implementing the recommendations.

The Seimas Committee on Audit and the National Audit Office (NAO) are organising a conference "Public Finances and Demographic Challenges: How to Prepare for the Future?" on Wednesday 30 April at 11:00.
  
The conference will present the implications of unchanged policies for Lithuania's public finances up to 2050, the challenges of demographic change, competitiveness and the importance of a fiscal structural framework. The event will include a panel discussion on how to meet the needs of an ageing population while maintaining sustainable public finances.
  
The National Audit Office, implementing the functions of the fiscal institution, carried out an Assessment of the Sustainability of General Government Finances in 2025–2050, the results of which show that:

• Even if migration trends remain favourable in the long term, Lithuania's population is projected to continue to decline and the challenges of an ageing population will persist;
• Ageing costs, such as old–age pensions and healthcare expenditure, will increase pressure on general government debt and pose risks to the sustainability of the country's public finances;
• If the ageing–related liabilities were to be covered only by debt, it is projected to rise to almost 80% of GDP in 2050;
• Not raising revenues in compliance with national fiscal discipline rules would reduce the quantity and quality of public services and worsen social sustainability;
• To finance ageing–related liabilities, structural reforms are needed to boost investment, labour productivity and mitigate the impact of changing demographics.

Representatives of the European Commission, the Lithuanian public sector, academia, business, policy makers and implementers will discuss topical issues related to the sustainability of public finances and demographic challenges.
 
The conference will be led and moderated by Algirdas Sysas, Chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania.
 
The event will be streamed live on the Seimas YouTube account. The link for the webcast: 2025-04-30 Conference "Public Finances and Demographic Challenges: How to Prepare for the Future?"
 
The event programme can be viewed here.

The conference will be delivered in Lithuanian.

Adviser to the Auditor General Sigita Rojutė-Balčiūnienė and Aurelija Brukštutė, Area Manager of the Planning and Impact Department, visited Astana, Kazakhstan this week to discuss the progress of the ongoing Peer review of the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) of Kazakhstan.
  
The visit, which took place on 7-11 April, focused on meetings with representatives of the Kazakhstan’s Parliament, the Ministry of Finance and the Supreme Audit Institution.
  
 "Interviews with audit clients - the stakeholders and the auditees - reveal the true contribution of the public auditors to the changes in the country and allow the reviewers to better understand the impact of the audit results and the trust in the SAI's activities", said Ms Rojutė-Balčiūnienė.
  
The meetings discussed the public audit methodology, conduct, quality management and quality assurance, as well as other important organisational issues of the SAI of Kazakhstan.
  
The Peer review of the SAI of Kazakhstan is carried out by the National Audit Office, together with the SAIs of Portugal and Turkey, with the aim of providing observations that will help the institution to ensure compliance with International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions. The Peer reviewa is expected to be completed in autumn 2025.