Auditors train to assess micro-finance institutions
Auditors train to assess micro-finance institutions
As the number of micro-finance institutions under the management of the Bank of the Lao PDR increases, the bank is training up more auditors to monitor the financial situation of these bodies.
Representatives from various audit companies in Laos are spending 10 days in Vientiane studying both the theory and practice of micro-finance auditing, aiming to ensure the underlying financial strength of micro-finance institutions.
The external audit training will improve auditors' capacities so they are better able to audit financial institutions' accounts and assess the soundness of their operations.
Director General of BOL's Financial Institution Supervision Department, Dr Akhom Praseuth, opened the course yesterday. “The skills of external auditors are currently still quite limited, so the bank must build the capacity of auditing bodies so they are able to keep micro-finance institutions on the right track,” he said.
He urged all trainees to actively seek information and share their education and experience together to ensure a highly effective training course.
Dr Akhom said he believed the course would provide Laos with better quality micro-finance auditors who would facilitate the growth of financial institutions. This in turn would contribute to socio-economic development for poverty reduction and integration in the Asean Economic Community in 2015.
A strong auditing sector will help to strengthen microfinance bodies and provide people with easier access to finance, boosting small and medium d enterprises throughout the country.
The training course is supported by Microlead and organised by the Bank of the Lao PDR and the United Nations Capital Development Fund.
vientiane times
