ON REACHING HIPC COMPLETION POINT- GAC Submits Reports

The General Auditing Commission (GAC) says it has finally submitted draft copies of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) audit reports to the various specified audited institutions, namely, the Ministries of Finance, Education, Public Works, Health and Social Welfare and Lands Mines and Energy.

GAC Director of Communications, Ernest S. Maximore, says because GAC audits are the only non-negotiable aspect of HIPC, the Auditor General and the team of diligent and devoted supreme auditors has been working from Sundays to Sundays and sometimes as late as 11 pm to finish all of the audits to meet international standards.

Maximore indicates that this second phase of the HIPC started since July 2009 but GAC was not receiving cooperation from the auditees and that support from the government was at a snail's pace; but he notes that in the last month, GAC is pleased that cooperation and support increased so GAC was able to complete the task.

“AG Morlu has not left Liberia for five months just to ensure that Liberia gets to HIPC,” GAC Director of Communications averred, adding, ”the final copies are expected to be sent to the National Legislature and the President at the end of this month.”

The completion of the HIPC audits, Maximore emphasized, is very vital to the economic recovery of post war Liberia because the Government of Liberia will get direct budget support and complete debt relief.

The First phase of the HIPC Audits, the Communication Director noted, covered fiscal period of 2005/2006 and 2006/2007 and that from those audits, the Government of Liberia was able to get US $18 million of direct budget support to the Government of Liberia from the World Bank and African Development Bank.

During the inauguration of the HIPC from the administration of the than Finance Minister Dr. Antoinette Sayeh, Maximore emphasized, GAC worked with IMF Consultant to draft the Internal Audit Strategy as a precondition to reach the decision point of conducting HIPC in June 2008.

In another development, GAC says, the AG and the GAC worked with the Legislature from September 2008 to June 2009 to finish and pass the PFM Law and also provided the technical support to the IMF recruited consultant to draft PFM Regulation.

GAC and consultants at the Ministry of Finance work to establish Accountant Standards, which was announced by the Minister of Finance. GAC also worked with MOF and providing the most technical support needed in implementing the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS).