In an event organised in connection with the Finnish EU Presidency, audit and statistics authorities discussed their shared means for ensuring the reliability of fiscal data.
In a changing world, it is increasingly important to retain confidence in government information and ensure that fiscal data is reliable. In a seminar organised by the National Audit Office of Finland (NAOF) and Statistics Finland on 28 November, international audit and statistics authorities discussed the significance of reliable data in the steering and monitoring of general government finances.
During the breaks, we asked experts of general government finances and statistical data about the requirements fiscal policy sets for the quality of data, and how auditors and statisticians can guarantee the reliability of data. Watch the short interviews below.
Martti Hetemäki, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance
“We need robust statistics produced by competent statisticians, and we need authorities that check that fiscal rules are followed and implemented as agreed.”
Mariana Kotzeva, Director General of Eurostat
“It is more important than ever to have reliable, trustworthy sources of statistics. We are all the time striving to ensure that the data are comparable.”
Athanasios C. Thanopoulos, President, Hellenic Statistical Authority
“It is our duty as statisticians and policy-makers to simplify data and find better ways to communicate the complexity behind it.”
Marjo Bruun, Director General, Statistics Finland
“It is important to have the right kind of information as a background. The statistics offices’ role is to provide reliable data to whoever is doing the fiscal policy.”
Tytti Yli-Viikari, Auditor General, National Audit Office of Finland
“For audit offices, it is very important that the data we use and the data that our auditees use is of good quality.”
Matti Okko, Director, National Audit Office of Finland
“We have to remember that it all starts from public accounting data. So first we have to make sure that the accounting data is reliable.”
The seminar entitled Building Trust was organised by the NAOF and Statistics Finland at Finlandia Hall on 28 November 2019 as part of the programme of the Finnish EU Presidency.