Your Excellency the Chief Executive,
I have audited the consolidatet financial statements set out on pages 7 to 26.
Responsibility of the Financial Services Bureau and competent bodies
The public accounting system is laid down in the Decree Law No. 41/83/M and further regulated by the Administrative Regulation No. 6/2006, in force from 25 April 2006, and applicable to the accounts of 2008. In conformity with Paragraph 1 of Article 35 of the Decree Law No. 41/83/M, the Financial Services Bureau is responsible for preparing the financial statements of the General Account, while the control of the departments’ budget execution, according to the Article 77 of the Administrative Regulation No. 6/2006, is carried out by the departments’ own managment bodies and by the Financial Services Bureau.
Responsibility of the Commission of Audit
It is the responsibility of the Commission of Audit to conduct an audit on these financial statements and express an opinion. The Commission of Audit conducted the audit according to the established plan and scope. The audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts in the financial statements, and assessing whether the accounting policies were in conformity with the public accounting system and whether they were effectively and consistently applied and adequately disclosed.
The Commission of Audit planned and performed the audit so as to obtain all information and explanations deemed necessary in order to get sufficient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free from material misstatement. The audit evidence the Commission of Audit obtained is sufficient and relevant to provide a reasonable basis for expressing its opinion.
Audit opinion
In my opinion, the financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the public accounting system, and present, in all material aspects, the Macau Special Administrative Region’s financial position as at 31 December 2008 and budget execution, based on receipts and payments for the year then ended, in accordance with the aforesaid accounting system.
