South Sudan is facing a difficult economic situation, due in part to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The IMF has provided a loan of USD 52.3 Million to the Government of South Sudan to assist with the ongoing situation. The funding is primarily directed to salary arrears of employees in government and states. The funding is provided as a so called Rapid Credit Facility (see IMF press release here).
The IMF funds were dispursed with the expectation that the South Sudan National Audit Chamber (NAC) would audit the management of the funds and then publish their findings online. The NAC has now embarked on this audit. The audit involves assessing the utilization of funds disbursed for salary arrears payments to the Central Government, States and three administrative areas. As part of this work, NAC will examine if the funds were disbursed to the right accounts and reached the intended beneficiaries. The audit will also look into the system, procedures and controls established by the Ministries and States to disburse funds for salary arrears, to ensure that they are proper and in line with relevant rules and regulations.
A planning workshop for the IMF Rapid Credit Facility funding audit was held in Juba for all audit team leaders on 30th April. Going forward, peers in the NAC Strategic Change Project will provide technical support to the execution of the audit. The project is a collaboration of the NAC, the INTOSAI Development Initiative, the Office of the Auditor General of Kenya and AFROSAI-E. Funding is provided by the Norwegian Embassy in Juba.
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