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The relevance of the study is due to the need to improve the efficiency of budget investments in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Performance audits of the use of these investments will reveal opportunities to optimize expenditures and increase the overall socio-economic impact, which is significant for the sustainable development of the country. In order to improve the efficiency and socio-economic return of budget expenditures, this study is focused on evaluating the efficiency of budget investments during the performance audit. This study is aimed at reviewing the role and capabilities of the performance audit, as a mechanism of public financial control of budget investments. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is used as a method for evaluating efficiency. Taking into account the reference management, the DEA algorithm is proposed to address the issue of limited input and output data to evaluate the national socio-economic development indicators. The special study of the budget investments’ technical performance in the regions of Kazakhstan shows that this method can be used since it improves the flexibility and performance of evaluation in the performance audit. The stability of the concept of performance audit is therefore confirmed, showing the need for a periodic revision of the legislative and methodological base. The study highlighted the main challenges of performance audit of budget investments in the Republic of Kazakhstan and provided recommendations for improvement.

The development and implementation of budgetary policy is impossible without effective financial control, which is a tool for ensuring effective management of resources and property of the state in compliance with the principles of economy, efficiency, performance, and transparency. It becomes even more relevant nowadays, when new trends in the development of financial control emerge in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The state financial control sphere narrows down, while non-state control expands. There is a shift from the next to the previous financial control. The object of financial control gradually transforms. Scientific novelty of this study lies in the development of theoretical and methodological provisions and practical recommendations for defining the nature of financial control, its subject matter, goals, and classifications for studying the effectiveness of low-budget organisations in the Republic of Kazakhstan (RK). Rules, regulations, procedures, and costs are being replaced by planned goals, results, and efficiency. This requires a new conceptual approach to the essence of financial control and its place in the public finance management system. The practical significance of the study results lies in their use for the efficiency improvement of budgetary institutions’ cooperation.

This study is necessitated by a detailed analysis of the types of audit, in particular, the performance audit of the quasi-public sector. The purpose of this study was to investigate one of the most effective mechanisms of state financial control – performance audit. The main research methods included the method of system analysis, the method of analysis and synthesis, and the method of the system approach. It was pointed out that the performance audit constitutes a detailed audit of the activities of persons who manage the received public funds, aimed at determining the effectiveness of the use of budget funds as an indicator of their competence in performing the functions assigned to them and the tasks set. The main difference between a performance audit and any control activity is that it should not end with the conventional preparation of a report on its results. The obvious vulnerabilities of the performance audit were also identified with the currently available legislative and methodological framework, and its concepts were presented in accordance with the audit standards adopted by the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions. As a result, the study proved the relevance of the concept of performance audit, but it requires systematic preparation of the legislative, regulatory, and methodological framework, taking into account the specific features of the country's development.