Tallinn, 21 June 2024 – Märt Loite, Head of the Analysis Department and Director of Audit of the National Audit Office of Estonia, was appointed as a new member of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) Board of Auditors. Loite was appointed to the five-member Board of Auditors at ESM Annual Meeting.
The ESM is a euro-area body established in 2012 to stabilise euro area countries and the euro area economy as a whole in crisis situations. The purpose of the ESM is to provide financial assistance to euro area countries facing financing difficulties. To this end, the ESM issues debt instruments to finance loans and other financial assistance to euro area countries.
The ESM shareholders are euro area countries and it has a total subscribed capital of €708 billion. Estonia's participation in the ESM is 0.25%, or €1.79 billion, of which €204.6 million as paid-in capital and further €1.59 billion for contribution if needed.
The ESM has carried out three support programmes – for Spain, Cyprus and Greece. These followed the European Financial Stability Facility support programmes for Ireland, Greece and Portugal. The total volume of the five countries' lending programmes amounted to €300 billion. All of these have now left the active and entered the post-programme surveillance phase. Countries are already repaying or are in the process of repaying their loans. The ESM has a total outstanding lending of €78 billion and a lending capacity of €422 billion.
The Board of Auditors is the independent oversight body of the ESM, which carries out independent audits, checks the ESM's accounts and verifies that the operational accounts and balance sheet are in order. Each year, the Board of Auditors prepares a report on its work and findings, which is presented to the Board of Governors of the ESM, composed of the ministers of finance of the ESM countries. The report is made available, together with the ESM Annual Report, to the national parliaments and supreme audit institutions of the ESM members, as well as to the European Court of Auditors and the European Parliament.
The Board of Auditors has five members, two of whom are appointed in alphabetical rotation from the supreme audit institutions of the ESM member countries. The Estonian representative replaces the Cypriot representative. The first meeting of the Board of Auditors after the appointment will take place on 27 November 2024.
More information on the ESM and the Board of Auditors:
https://www.esm.europa.eu/how-we-decide/esm/governance#boardofauditors
https://www.fin.ee/finantspoliitika-valissuhted/rahvusvaheline-koostoo-ja-euroopa-liit/euroopa-stabiilsusmehhanism
Priit Simson
Communication Manager, National Audit Office
+372 640 0777
+372 5615 0280
[email protected]
[email protected]
http://www.riigikontroll.ee/
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Posted:
6/20/2024 3:57 PM
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Last Update:
6/25/2024 9:09 PM
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Last Review:
6/25/2024 9:09 PM
Märt Loite, Head of the Analysis Department and Director of Audit of the National Audit Office of Estonia.
National Audit Office of Estonia
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