The central government accounting offices have planned and monitored investments mainly appropriately. However, the guidelines on planning and monitoring should be developed and made more concrete so that they would provide better guidance for the identification of significant investments and the application of procedures.
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The audit focused on the investments made by the central government accounting offices and the related internal control procedures. The audit examined whether the planning of investments is properly organised, whether investment decisions are based on an appropriate knowledge base, and whether the investments are monitored appropriately.
Investments are a significant expenditure item in central government finances. In 2018–2023, the real investments of on-budget entities amounted on average to about EUR 1.4 billion per year. The most significant share of the investments is related to infrastructure, such as transport infrastructure assets.
Based on the audit, the planning and monitoring of investments were mainly appropriate. Non-monetary benefits and their evaluation are highlighted in the accounting offices’ investment decisions. The audit found that the project evaluations required by the law had not been carried out on all significant transport infrastructure projects. The Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency should ensure that the required project evaluations are made and that the application of the project evaluation guidelines is documented in a consistent manner.
The State Treasury has issued a regulation and guidelines on the planning of investments. According to the regulation, the accounting offices shall plan and monitor the investments that they consider to be significant for their activities. The planning and monitoring procedures shall be selected based on the nature, size and significance of the investment.
Based on the audit, the procedures for identifying significant investments vary from one accounting office to another. The State Treasury’s regulation and guidelines leave the accounting offices a lot of discretion and do not include any concrete criteria for identifying significant investments in a way that would guide the application of planning and monitoring procedures.
The National Audit Office recommends that the State Treasury should develop its guidelines so that they would better guide the accounting offices in identifying significant investments and in selecting procedures based on the nature, size and significance of the investment.
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