Greece: Update to the Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes, 2002—Fiscal Transparency
IMF Staff Country Reports, March 15, 2002
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- Greece: Update to the Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes, 2002—Fiscal Transparency
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Bibliographic details
- Published: March 15, 2002
- Series: IMF Staff Country Reports
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781451816143.002
Summary
- This paper presents an update to the Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes on Fiscal Transparency for Greece.
- The government has initiated steps toward improving auditing.
- The Ministry of Economy and Finance is undertaking a comparative examination of its auditing mechanism against those used by the European Union (EU) and by other advanced economies.
- The Ministry is making use of experience gained through auditing of programs financed jointly by national and EU funds.
- It is intended that all expenditures would be subject to audit prior to expenditure approval.
Findings and Analysis
- Ongoing reform focus: strengthening auditing practices within the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
- Comparative benchmarking: auditing mechanism being compared with EU practices and those of other advanced economies.
- Use of joint program experience: lessons from audits of nationally and EU-financed programs are being incorporated.
- Procedural intent: proposed requirement that all expenditures undergo audit prior to approval.
Policy Implications and Recommendations
- Strengthen internal auditing capacity through comparative assessment with EU and advanced economy practices.
- Institutionalize pre-approval audit procedures to ensure that all expenditures are audited prior to expenditure approval.
- Leverage auditing experience from jointly financed national and EU programs to inform broader public financial management reforms.