19 April 2023

Some experience of the SAO of Hungary

in performing the roles described in the Principal Paper

First meeting of the INTOSAI Working Group on Key National IndicatorsMoscow, 20-21. May 2008.

By Dr. Gusztáv Báger, director generalDr. Pál Csapodi secretary general

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Approaches followed on the subject-in-question

• A new priority: advisory activity promoting reforms

• It needs SAO’s involvement with national indicators efforts

• So far1. Focus on indicators measuring own

performance, but2. Emphasis on taking over international

standards3. Providing technical expert advice

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Key indicators for measuring own performance

• Two goals:– To increase efficiency of audit work– To inform broader efforts to others, due to the fact

that programme-based budgeting is on the agenda in Hungary

• Three elements of the applied system:– program.-based budgeting: priorities broken down in

activities, outcomes– Assessment of individual performances– Quality management system of the audit work

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System for Registration of Audit Data and SAO Tasks

named “Szekreter” • “Szekreter” is an information system

supporting – the processing of SAO’s yearly Audit Plan, – the follow-up and its possible changes, – the operative drafting of the audits in details, – recording of their implementation and the

following of audit findings. • The colleagues involved in the audits have to

keep a registration to show the total of working hours of SAO spent with the single/individual audit.

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Taking over international standards

• Motivations:– Growing number of international commitments– Growing importance of international

comparisons

• Experience in three important fields:– Meeting the environmental requirements (e.g.

joint audits)– Best practices in the field of R&D– Public and Private Partnerships (PPPs)

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Providing technical/expert advice

• To avoid a loss of independence SAO is involved in improving indicators based on experience of audit only (no own proposal for new ones)

• Main areas:– Budgetary indicators– Indicators for specific fields: e. g. education, development-

policy

• Proposals for the National Assembly, Government and agencies are made in audit reports and analytical studies

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Proposals for improving budgetary indicators (1)

• Task to be solved to meet the requirements of great variety of the users:– Long term comparative series– Relevant structures of data for political decision-making– Performance indicators be in line with target indicators– Debt indicators for foreign investors according to

international standards– Information needs of the IMF and EU

• A general problem identified: the information system is disintegrated – Partial systems exist – communication is done often

manually only– Inconsistencies – not efficient

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Proposals for improving budgetary indicators (2)

• Shortcomings in the light of the IMF Manual on Fiscal Transparency:– No access to indicators on non-budgetary

institutions (foundations etc.)– It is difficult to build in time series from

budgetary indicators– No full-ranged indicators are available for tax-

relieves and quasi-fiscal activities– No adequate range of social indicators for

budgetary impact analysis

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Proposals for improving budgetary indicators (3)

• Further requirements of public sector reforms identified:– Needs of programme-based budgeting

• More detailed and reliable economic and social indicators• Performance indicators according to programmes

– Following: a change towards performance management at institutional level a need for accrual accounting

– Instead of the organisational classification the way of providing public service taken as a basis for suppliers of indicators