The IMF delegates came to the SAO to discuss EU structural funds
PRESS RELEASE – May 13, 2016
Tree representatives from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) arrived at the headquarters of the Supreme Audit Office (SAO) to meet with President of the SAO Mr. Miloslav Kala and other SAO’s representatives to discuss the beginning of the new programming period and to learn how the Czech Republic dealt with problematic issues in the previous programming period. The IMF delegates asked questions about the national accounting system, problematic issues related to the new accounting regulation and results of financial audits, which had been carried out by the SAO.
The main topic of the discussion was the situation regarding absorption of EU structural funds. The IMF delegates were interested in numbers and seriousness of detected irregularities, and wanted to know whether EU funds were used in the most profitable projects and how Czech authorities react to the SAO’s findings. The head of the IMF mission Mr. Costas Christou expressed his appreciation for recommendations given by the SAO in its annual EU Reports, which deal with the issue of EU funds management in the Czech Republic: “The amounts and quality of those recommendations reach beyond the usual framework for activities that are carried out by courts of auditors. It would be great if other European auditing institutions got inspired in the Czech EU Reports”, said Mr. Christou.
The IMF delegates also wanted to know more about the utilisation of EU funds in large-scale infrastructure projects and about risks that are involved in renewing construction works in case the necessary legislation related to environmental impact assessment is not amended. President of the SAO said: “I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of the IMF delegates’ knowledge about problematic issues related to absorption of EU structural funds in the Czech Republic. I am also glad that the SAO’s audit reports and publications were used as their sources of information.”
Every year, there is a mission from the IMF in the Czech Republic, but this was the first time that the IMF delegates required a consultation with representatives of the SAO. Among the participants to the meeting were also representatives from the SAO’s Structural Policy Unit, Methodology and Other Financial Instruments Unit, Financial Audit Methodology Unit, and from the SAO’s International Relations Department. During their two-week stay in the Czech Republic, the IMF delegates also met with representatives from Czech ministries, the Czech National Bank, from other banks and from the financial market as well as trade unions and profession associations.
Communication Department
Supreme Audit Office
Representatives from the International Monetary Fund and from the SAO