Panel expresses concern at alleged meddling at ELSTAT
An independent committee set up to oversee Greece’s statistical system highlighted alleged attempts to influence the work of the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) in a report published on Wednesday.
In its second annual report, the Good Practice Advisory Committee, which includes a member appointed by the European Commission’s statistical arm Eurostat, expressed concern about a possible attempt to obstruct ELSTAT’s work in a recent reassessment of older debt and deficit figures ordered by Brussels.
“The Committee was informed that ELSTAT was approached toward the end of 2014 by some officials to delay introducing revisions to the EDP figures that take account of newly available high-quality data,” the report said.
The committee described this event as “very disappointing.”
ELSTAT president Andreas Georgiou is a member of the committee but does not have any voting rights.
