High-quality auditing serves to ensure healthy economic growth

Entrusted by the State Council, China's Cabinet, Hou Kai, auditor-general of the National Audit Office, delivered an audit report on Monday to the top legislature on the financial revenues and expenditure management of 18 provincial-level organs, and 36 cities and counties in 2022.

The report pointed out a series of loopholes in financial management of many local governments, such as overstated fiscal revenues, disorderly fines and irregular imposition of taxes or fees, illegal growth of new hidden debts, and false reporting of special debt project revenues.

It is not the first time a "list of problems" detected during such an audit has been disclosed. However, under the pressure of economic transformation and upgrading, especially when the real estate market in some regions is facing growth bottlenecks, greater financial risks have emerged due to some local governments relying too much on land revenues.

Such problems are often invisible and can cause more harm to society, thus necessitating the readjusting of audit work according to the actual situation. Through more than 20 consecutive years of budget implementation audits, the overall budget implementation for central departments is generally in line with related laws and regulations.

But the "gray rhino" risk caused by the hidden debts of local governments at all levels must not be ignored, including unclear definition of general public budget and other budget boundaries, the failure of government investment funds to focus on solving financing bottlenecks as required, illegal growth of new hidden debts, and artificial adjustment of the scale of revenues.

The role of audit work is to gauge whether local governments are effectively using financial resources and performing their duties. In order to reveal major economic risks and promote better integrated development and security, financial audit is playing an increasingly important role.

At a time when various economic factors are closely connected, what seems to be a potential, small fiscal problem and risk, once mishandled, is likely to trigger a negative chain reaction.

Therefore, audit authorities need to carry out economic supervision throughout the whole process of auditing, reveal problems and risks in economic operation in a timely manner, give full play to auditing to observe economic operation, and provide a strong guarantee for sustained and healthy economic and social development.

This is a necessary move to ensure the high-quality development of China's economy in the future.