EUROSAI 94 Studies and other articles CHALLENGES IN INCREASING EFFICIENCY OF SUPPORT SCHEMES TO FIGHT THE COVID-19 CRISIS National Audit Office of Lithuania The National Audit Office of Lithuania, responding to the pandemic and the measures adopted by the Government, carried out an Assessment of COVID-19 Crisis and Emergency Management in 20201. Although the report does not cover the entire year of 2020, it was enough to notice the growing government debt because of borrowing over 7.0 billion euro to finance the increased budget expenditures and mitigate the effects of the pandemic, among them increase of unemployment, decrease in budgetary revenues compared to plans, delay in the implementation of the COVID-19 Management Strategy actions. It was noted by the auditors that one of the Economic Stimulus and Coronavirus (COVID-19) Consequences Mitigation Plan measures - speeding up and simplifying public procurement procedures by allowing a non-negotiated public procurement - made procurement more expensive. 1 https://www.valstybeskontrole.lt/EN/Product/23970/covid-19-crisis-and-emergency-management 2 https://www.valstybeskontrole.lt/EN/Product/24008/legality-of-the-implementation-of-the-measures-under-the-objectivehelping-busin In 2021, the NAO of Lithuania initiated the audit of legality of the implementation of the measures under the objective “Helping businesses to safeguard liquidity” of the Economic Stimulus and Coronavirus (COVID-19) Consequences Mitigation Plan2. 1.4 billion euro was allocated for this purpose, of which 40.3 per cent was used in 2020. The audit assessed compliance with legal acts of processes and funds intended to help businesses maintain liquidity and analysed whether the legal environment was sufficient to achieve the goals set and the measures adopted. No significant inconsistencies with legislation have been identified in the allocation of funds. However, equal principles and conditions based on objective criteria for different business sectors to receive state budget support would have helped to achieve more transparent and better targeted use of state budget funds. In response to the crisis, the National Audit Office of Lithuania set up a Working Group of Auditors to collect and analyse data related to the impact of the pandemic on the country’s economy and the The NAO of Lithuania carried out an Assessment of COVID-19 Crisis and Emergency Management in 2020 Figure 1. Timeline of Government actions in response to COVID-19 pandemic No significant inconsistencies with legislation have been identified in the allocation of funds
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