2003年-世界发展银行全球_Bulgaria___Country_Financial_Accountability_Assessment_82页_5mb

报告摘要

Summary of the Country Financial Accountability Assessment (CFAA) for Bulgaria

Core Content

The Country Financial Accountability Assessment (CFAA) for Bulgaria, conducted by the World Bank in 2003, evaluates the public financial management (PFM) system and its capacity to ensure accountability, transparency, and effective use of public resources. The assessment focuses on the central government and does not include the municipal sector at this stage. It is part of the World Bank's broader Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) and aligns with the Government's reform agenda, particularly in the context of EU accession.

Main Objectives

To assess the public sector financial accountability framework.
To identify key financial management risks and capacity gaps.
To support the development of a program for reform and capacity building.
To provide a basis for monitoring future reforms and improving the use of Bank funds.

Key Findings

Legal and Institutional Framework

A strong legal framework exists for budgeting, accounting, and auditing.
The Organic Budget Law (OBL) and Annual Budget Act (ABA) provide the basis for budget preparation and execution.
The National Audit Office (NAO) and Public Internal Financial Control Agency (PIFCA) are key institutions in the financial accountability system.
The National Assembly plays an active role in the budget formulation process, but its oversight of execution is limited by delays in adopting reports.

Budgeting Process

The budget is becoming more comprehensive due to the reduction of extra-budgetary funds (EBF) to seven.
Programmatic budgeting has been introduced in three ministries, but it is not yet prioritized or fully implemented.
The Treasury Single Account (TSA) has been established to manage all budgetary institutions.
The three-year budget framework is not providing clear guidance to line ministries due to frequent changes in the second and third years.

Cash Management

The SEBRA (System for Electronic Budget Transaction) is used for automated cash management.
The system has reasonable internal controls, but needs improvements in data entry uniformity, data recovery, and physical security for servers.

Internal Controls

The Public Internal Financial Control Act (2000) has been enacted to establish a financial control framework.
A new position, financial controller, has been introduced to strengthen ex-ante control.
Internal controls are reasonably satisfactory, but soft controls (e.g., training and awareness) are lacking.
Department heads need training in internal controls and risk management.

Accounting and Reporting

A new Chart of Accounts (CoA) has been developed that conforms to GFS-2001 and ESA 95 standards.
However, tax revenues are still recorded on a cash basis, and tax arrears are not included in financial statements.
The Financial Management Information System (FMIS), based on SAP R/3, has not been fully adopted by line ministries, and lower-level units use various basic accounting software, leading to data incompatibility.

Revenue Collection and Management

A new National Revenue Agency (NRA) has been established to integrate tax and social contribution collection.
The NRA is being developed with support from the European Commission (EC) and the World Bank.
There is a lack of comprehensive strategies and manuals for auditing revenues and IT-based systems.

External Audit

The National Audit Office (NAO) is independent and has adequate resources and staff.
It conducts performance audits and has started pilots with the UK's NAO.
However, there is a lack of strategy to audit revenues effectively and a lack of expertise in auditing automated systems.

Anti-Corruption

Bulgaria has made progress in fighting official corruption.
Public procurement remains a major source of corruption.

State-Owned Enterprises (SOE)

SOEs are under the oversight of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and Ministry of Environment and Water (MoEW).
There is a need for better accounting and budgeting practices and internal and external audits.

Bank-Financed Projects

Project Implementation Units (PIUs) are used for executing Bank-funded projects.
These units maintain special accounts with the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB).
Annual financial statements are audited by a representative firm of one of the Big 4 audit firms.
No significant accountability issues have been found in past audits.

Key Recommendations

Develop guidelines for public investment planning and evaluation to improve transparency and accountability.
Create data recovery plans for the SEBRA database.
Define detailed job descriptions for financial controllers to avoid responsibility scattering.
Establish a government-wide IT function to set benchmarks and develop an IT strategy.
Ensure compatibility of software and hardware across all government units.
Incorporate user needs during SAP R/3 implementation to prevent duplication.
Review and revise PIFCA's responsibilities to avoid conflicts of interest.
Develop training programs for NAO auditors in risk assessment.
Create comprehensive strategies and training programs for revenue auditing and IT-based systems.
Strengthen forensic auditing capabilities for PIFCA and NAO to improve corruption enforcement.

Conclusion

The CFAA highlights that Bulgaria has a well-developed financial management system with good legal and institutional frameworks. However, technical capacity and training are still needed to implement international best practices. Fiscal transparency is high, but systemic weaknesses in internal controls, budget execution, and IT systems remain. The report recommends a series of reforms to strengthen financial accountability and reduce fiduciary risks, especially for Bank-financed projects.