Thursday 30/October/2025 – 07:13 PM
The session on the first technical topic, entitled “The Role of Supreme Audit Institutions in Reviewing Central Banks and Government Activities During Financial and Economic Crises,” was held with the participation of heads of SAIs, international experts and representatives of regional organizations, within the framework of the activities of the twenty-fifth conference of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions.INTOSAI“, held in Sharm El-Sheikh under the patronage of His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
INTOSAI President: Financial crises are a true test of the efficiency and transparency of public resource management
Participating in the session were Mr. Stephen Sanford, Director General of the US Government Accountability Office, Ms. Lama bint Abdulaziz Al-Hammadi, Executive Deputy for Financial Audit and Compliance at the Saudi General Auditing Office, Mr. Mihalis Kozlovz, a member of the European Court of Accountants, and accountant Ali Abdel-Al, head of the sector at the Central Auditing Organization.
Counselor Muhammad Al-Faisal Yousef, Chairman of the Central Auditing Organization and Chairman of INTOSAI, said at the beginning of his speech that financial and economic crises represent a real test of the ability of countries to manage their public resources efficiently and transparently, stressing that today’s supreme audit institutions are required to play broader roles than simply reviewing financial procedures, as they have become responsible for evaluating the effectiveness of government interventions and the extent of their contribution to achieving growth and stability and protecting the most needy groups.
His Excellency pointed out that the fundamental question that should be directed by the Supreme Audit Institutions in this context: Are the huge government subsidies and funds incurred by governments in times of financial crises directed in their correct paths? Or was part of it leaking to groups other than those targeted for protection? Do financial interventions achieve the desired results and actually contribute to enhancing growth and stability? Here a comprehensive and in-depth vision emerges that should be on the agenda of the Supreme Audit Institutions, with the aim of preventing the escalation of crises, mitigating their effects, and also with the aim of strengthening citizens’ confidence in state institutions.
The head of INTOSAI explained that modern oversight is no longer limited to examining numbers and data, but has gone beyond that to assessing the impact using macroeconomic analysis tools, artificial intelligence, and big data, which allows providing an accurate picture to the decision maker that helps him take more efficient financial and monetary policies.
He added that the Egyptian experience represents an advanced model in this field, as the Central Auditing Organization is responsible for reviewing the Central Bank of Egypt and government activities related to economic crises, within a framework of balance between respecting the independence of the Central Bank and exercising objective control over the management of public resources.
He stressed that this balance ensures the protection of public funds without compromising the independence of monetary decisions, noting that this concept is what must be strengthened within the INTOSAI community through the exchange of experiences and the development of supervisory methodologies.
For his part, Accountant Professor Mohamed Abdel Ghani, Vice President of the Central Auditing Organization, reviewed the aspects of complementarity between the monetary policy managed by the Central Bank and the financial policy undertaken by the government in times of crises, noting that Egypt was one of the first countries to establish this integration through Article (48) of Central Bank Law No. 194 of 2020, which stipulated the establishment of a coordination council between the two sides to achieve harmony in economic decisions.
While the Central Auditing Organization’s proposal indicated that the Egyptian experience during recent years reflected this coordination in implementing comprehensive financial and social packages, which included the “Decent Life” initiative to develop rural communities with a total spending amounting to about 1.4 trillion pounds, and the “Solidarity and Dignity” initiative, which targeted poor families, the elderly, and people with disabilities, with a total spending amounting to 41 billion pounds during the years 2024 and 2025, in addition to the economic stimulus package that the state launched during the Covid-19 pandemic worth 100 billion pounds to support the affected sectors, in addition to supporting food supplies and bread, with a total spending amounting to about 134.15 billion pounds during the fiscal year 2024/2025.
The Egyptian proposal explained that the reviews conducted by the agency for these initiatives came within the framework of its legal competencies through financial oversight and performance and compliance oversight, and resulted in practical recommendations to which the concerned authorities responded, and their implementation contributed to enhancing the efficiency of internal control and improving the direction of public resources in a way that achieves national priorities.
The session also discussed the Egyptian experience in reviewing the Central Bank of Egypt’s initiatives to mitigate the effects of crises, including initiatives to finance companies, small and medium enterprises, and sectors affected by the pandemic, with a total financing amounting to 100 billion pounds, and initiatives to support industrial and agricultural activities and new and renewable energy with a value amounting to about 90 billion pounds, as well as initiatives to restructure credit facilities to support distressed customers and maintain the stability of their financial conditions.
At the conclusion of the session, the speakers agreed that the escalation of audit risks during financial and economic crises requires SAIs to develop their work tools and field approaches, while strengthening cooperation between INTOSAI member agencies to exchange knowledge and modernize oversight mechanisms, in a way that ensures the quality of reports and the reliability of results and enhances the principles of transparency, accountability, and citizens’ confidence in state institutions.
