Greece’s Court of audit delivered its annual report to Parliament stressing the need for improving the efficency of collection mechanisms in the state and redefining the way in which fines are imposed in Greece.

The Court of Audit’s report states that real spending of the regular budget totalled 133,726,068,519 euros in 2013, showing 10.31% deviation due to higher needs for spending on payment of overdue state debt and payment of interest on short-term state securities.

The report stated that the country’s public debt gerw by 16 billion euros in 2013 compared to 2012. This increase was due to the state budget shortfall that needed to be funding as well as state participation in the equity capital of the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund.

The report underlined that public debt rose steadily on an annual basis over the last few years, with the exception of 2012 when it fell after the PSI program. The country’s GDP contracted over the same period as a result of public debt.

The Court of Audit noted that more emphasis must be given on controlling government deficits, especially in the social insurance and health sectors.