FIJI is ahead of most neighbouring island countries in the field of public financial auditing, the Auditor General's office said yesterday.
The comment follows the launch of a performance audit manual by Auckland-based organisation Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions.
The manual is expected to improve the varied government operations across the Pacific region, the association said.
Deputy auditor general Atunaisa Nadakuitavuki said Fiji had developed its own guidebook but would take some lessons from the new PASAI manual.
He said Fiji was on par with Papua New Guinea and the French and New Zealand Pacific colonies.
Mr Nadakuitavuki said the PASAI manual was more suited to countries that did not have a proper manual system.
Fiji's former auditor general Eroni Vatuloka — who is the executive director of Auckland-based PASAI — is in Kiribati and could not be reached for comment.
But a press statement from PASAI said the performance audit manual would ease the once difficult task of auditing the performance of many and varied government operations across the Pacific region.
The statement quoted Mr Vatuloka as saying the performance audit manual would provide public and private sector auditors in the Pacific with the knowledge, skills and tools to ably audit all aspects of government operations.
Mr Vatuloka said the manual would be of great use to private sector auditors commissioned by government bodies to audit the performance of their operations.