Audit Services

Responsibilities and powers of the Auditor General are laid down in the Constitution of Maldives and the Audit Act 4/2007. Pursuant to Article 212 of the Constitution, the Auditor General is responsible for auditing and reporting on financial statements of the following entities: 

• • all government ministries, departments, offices and agencies
• • all offices and organizations operating under the legislative authority;
• • Independent Commissions and Independent Offices established in accordance with the Constitution and law and all offices operating under the same; and
• • all offices and organizations operating under the judicial authority.
  
      
  

In addition to auditing and reporting on the financial statements of the above entities, the Auditor General also has the discretion to report on the financial management of the audited entities and has the power to conduct audits of institutions and organizations required to be audited by law. As per the constitution the Auditor General has a discretionary mandate to audit any institution primarily funded by the State and any business entity in which the State owns shares. 

The Audit Act 2007 gives Auditor General the discretion to conduct performance audits of the above mentioned entities:
Currently AGO carries out the following types of Audits:
    • Financial Statement Audits; 
    • Compliance Audits;
    • Special Audits;
    • Performance Audits; and
    • Information systems (IS) Audit

Non-Audit Services

Pursuant to Articles 120 and 138 of the Constitution, the President and each of his cabinet members shall submit a statement of all property and monies owned by them, business interests and all assets and liabilities to the Auditor General. In addition, members of some independent commissions are required by the Constitution to submit the same to the Auditor General. While the Constitution and law do not assign any specific responsibility to the Auditor General as the regards the asset declarations submitted by public officials, the implicit assumption is that the AG has to vet these based on certain criteria. Therefore, vetting of asset declarations is included as part of the AG’s responsibilities

The Auditor General issues a report to the Parliament on the proposed State Budget, upon request by the Parliamentary Budget Committee. The report consists of findings and observations made on the proposed budget and recommendations to the findings. Even though this is not an audit report, the report consists of Auditor General’s views on the proposed income, expenditures and budget deficits.  

The parliamentary committees seek advice from the Auditor General from time to time regarding the accountability of government institutions. The auditor General gives professional advice and has suggested Key Performance Indicators for the entities upon the request from the committees. 

Apart from the audits included in the annual work plan, AGO conducts assessments at the request of government entities. In these assessments, AGO provides technical assistance to requesting entities regarding financial claims made by private parties against a government entity. These assessments are done independently, and findings and opinions are shared with relevant entities.