VIENTIANE: The State Audit Organisation uncovered billions of kip in financial discrepancies over the past five years, but only about 20 percent of misspent funds was recovered, despite stronger efforts on the part of state auditors.
National Assembly Member for Champasak province, Alounxay Sounnalath, raised concerns about the losses after the State Audit Organisation delivered its five-year report to the inaugural session of the 10th National Assembly on March 25.
Over the past five years losses exceeding 37,000 billion kip (US$1.71 billion) were identified, but only a little more than 7,000 billion kip of this amount was recovered.
“The recovery rate is low, and there are several causes that need to be addressed,” Alounxay said.
President of the State Audit Organisation, Viengthavisone Thephachanh, presented the agency’s detailed findings to the session.
A review of audits conducted over the past five years identified problems in several areas, including additional revenue, tax receivables, asset receivables, other receivables, concession fees and funds held in suspended accounts.
In 2021, auditors identified 6,721.71 billion kip in losses, but recovered only 394.61 billion kip, or 5.87 per cent.
In 2022, the recovery rate improved slightly to 356.65 billion kip out of 3,961.39 billion kip, equal to nine per cent. In 2023, 718.38 billion kip was recovered out of 5,192.42 billion kip, accounting for 13.84 per cent.
Significant progress was made in 2024, when 5,303.17 billion kip and US$310,000 were recouped from 9,701.57 billion kip that had been misspent, equal to 47.96 per cent. But a large share of identified funds has yet to be recovered.
In 2025, auditors identified 12,033.56 billion kip in losses. Recovery results will be reviewed and reported to the National Assembly at the end of this year.
Viengthavisone said the organisation has stepped up follow-up work in a bid to recoup more of the monies that could not be satisfactorily unaccounted for.
It set up taskforces, issued guidance, and monitored progress through signed agreements and detailed plans involving 115 targets.
Looking ahead, the organisation aims to strengthen its work under the 2026-2030 plan, aiming to carry out 620 audits and ensure follow-up on at least 80 per cent of completed audits each year.
The plan also includes revising the Law on State Audit to align with the 2025 Constitution, along with the improvement of seven supporting pieces of legislation.
Vice President of the National Assembly, Vilayvong Bouddakham, chaired the session.
On behalf of the National Assembly Standing Committee, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Affairs Committee, Chanthaboun Soukaloun, supported the report but called for stronger action.
He urged the organisation to improve coordination with relevant sectors to clarify outstanding financial issues, including receivables and unpaid financial obligations identified in past audits.
He also stressed the need to strengthen audits of large state-funded projects and public-private partnerships to reduce the risk of rising debt and inefficiency.
In addition, he called for greater integrity and professionalism among audit staff, along with improved data systems to support faster and more transparent audits.
While audit coverage has expanded and loss recovery has improved in recent years, closing the gap between losses and recovery remains a key challenge for the State Audit Organisation. - Vientiane Times/ANN
