The lawmakers Thursday approved the 2011 budget of the Audit Office, which totals 26 million lei, 23 million lei of which is designed for salaries, and the number of the institution’s employees, which is by 10 units higher, Info-Prim Neo reports. Liberal MP Valeriu Munteanu expressed his dissatisfaction at the fact that the number of auditors was increased. “What was such a move needed for when our general objective is to reduce and optimize the posts in the public system?” he asked. The Liberal-Democrat MP Veaceslav Ionita, chairman of the commission on economy, budget and finance, answered that the institution undergoes reformation and is no more an inspection, but an audit body. “The Audit Office implements audit systems in all the public institutions and its capacity should be increased,” he stated. The Audit Office is the only public authority that controls the formation, management and use of public finances and administers the public patrimony by performing external audit in the public sector, as a supreme audit institution. It has 160 employees and is protected from interference on the part of the law enforcement and inspection bodies.