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Features of public debt management in wartime and role of the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine’s audit in ensuring the country's debt sustainability was highlighted by the Acting Secretary of the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine Vasyl Nevidomyi during the 2025 Annual Meeting of the INTOSAI Working Group on Public Debt (Working Group on Public Debt – WGPD)*.
The event on «Global Trends in Public Debt Management Practices and the Role of SAIs» takes place on 17-20 June 2025 in Bucharest (Romania) and will bring together representatives of supreme audit institutions from 39 countries around the world. The Accounting Chamber of Ukraine also joined the meeting by the Deputy Director of the Department for Control (Audit) of the State Budget, Financial Institutions Larysa Aleksenko.
Participants discussed challenges and innovations in public debt auditing and shared experiences on conducting audits in conditions of significant debt burden, growing macroeconomic risks and the need to ensure fiscal sustainability.
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In the speech, Vasyl Nevidomyi informed his colleagues that the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine is currently conducting its first compliance audit on the topic of «Public Debt Management». The purpose of the audit is to assess the compliance of the current debt management system with European requirements and best international practices.
He emphasise that Russia's full-scale invasion had led to a sharp increase in defence spending and a significant budget deficit, which is mainly covered by government borrowing. As a result, the amount of public debt already exceeds the established limits. At the same time, under martial law, fiscal rules limiting debt burdens do not apply, and long-term budget planning has been temporarily suspended.
«War creates excessive uncertainty. Therefore, we need to adapt our approach to auditing to take these conditions into account, as well as monitor the restoration of the aforementioned fiscal rules in the future. Based on the results of the audit, the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine will provide recommendations that will help build a modern, effective debt management system for Ukraine», – said Vasyl Nevidomyi.
During the event, participants also discussed new approaches to debt management assessment, enhancing the role of SAIs in developing recommendations on public debt policy, and practices for implementing INTOSAI international standards and guidelines into national audit procedures. Special attention was paid to the implementation of new WGPD documents, including recommendations on the role of the SAIs in ensuring the sustainability of public debt and internal control assessment tools in this area.
* The INTOSAI Working Group on Public Debt (WGPD), which operates within the framework of INTOSAI's Strategic Objective 3 – ‘Knowledge Sharing’, was established in 1991.Its main tasks are to develop recommendations, methodological documents and standards for SAIs on public debt auditing, conduct research, exchange experience and enhance the capacity of national authorities in this area.Currently chaired by the WGPD Audit Commission of the Republic of the Philippines.
