Comptroller General of the State

The Comptroller General of the State (IGAE) is a senior official of the Ministry of Finance of Spain. The comptroller directs the Office of the Comptroller General of the State Administration, which is an internal supervisory agency with the task of supervising the state public administration and of managing the public accounts.

Comptroller General of the State
Interventor General del Estado
Coat of Arms used by the Government
Incumbent
Pablo Arellano Pardo
since 23 June 2018
  • Ministry of Finance
  • Undersecretariat of Finance
  • Office of the Comptroller General of the State Administration
StyleThe Most Excellent
AbbreviationIGAE
Reports toUnder Secretary of Finance
NominatorMinister of Finance
AppointerKing of Spain
Term lengthNo fixed term
PrecursorDirector-General for Accounting
Inaugural holderJosé Ramón de Oya
FormationJanuary 4, 1874; 150 years ago (1874-01-04)
Websitewww.igae.pap.hacienda.gob.es

The Comptroller General is appointed by the Monarch with the advice of the Finance Minister. The Comptroller General reports directly to the Under Secretary of Finance.

Purpose

edit

The Comptroller oversees the IGAE agency, which has two core functions. Its primary function is that of a supervisory agency. It is responsible for verifying – through previous monitoring of legality, continuous financial control, public audits, and financial control of subsidies – that the public sector's economic and financial activity complies with the principles of legality, economy, efficiency and effectiveness.

Its second function is to act as the center for the management of public accounts. It is responsible for providing reliable, complete, professional and independent accounting information about public management. In this regard, it is responsible for drafting the public sector's financial accounts according to the guidance set out by the European System of Accounts. The most specific result of this is the determination of public deficit, which is essential to the nation's economic life. It calculates the deficit for the central government and each of its sub-sectors.[1]

Organisation

edit

A large number of officials and administrative bodies depend upon the Comptroller General. To carry out its functions, the IGAE agency has delegations known as Comptroller Delegations (Spanish: Intervenciónes delegates) in all the General State Administration departments, including ministerial departments, public agencies and regional and local administrations. In addition, the law specifies that certain government bodies must have integrated delegations: Ministry of Defence (IGD), Social Security (IGSS), the General Secretariat for the Treasury and International Financing, and the Directorate-General for Personnel Costs and Public Pensions.

In addition to the bodies mentioned above, the IGAE agency is divided into seven large departments:

  • The National Audit Office, further divided into five division.
  • The National Accounting Office, divided into three divisions.
  • The Deputy Directorate-General for Intervention and Control.
  • The Deputy Directorate-General for Studies and Coordination.
  • The Deputy Directorate-General for Organization, Planning and Resource Management.
  • The Budgetary Computing Office, divided into four divisions.
  • The National Anti-Fraud Coordination Service.

It is also supported by a dedicated technical office.[2]

List of comptrollers general

edit
No. Comptroller General Term of service Appointing Prime Minister
1 José Ramón de Oya 7 January 1874 – 8 August 1878 Francisco Serrano
2 Raimundo Fernández Villaverde 8 August 1878 – 7 July 1880 Antonio Cánovas del Castillo
3 José Ramón de Oya 7 July 1880 – 30 June 1887
4 Ángel González de la Peña 30 June 1887 – 16 July 1895 Práxedes Mateo Sagasta
5 Adrián Mínguez y Ranz 16 July 1895 – 14 September 1906 Antonio Cánovas del Castillo
6 José María de Retes y Muyraní 14 September 1906 – 1 September 1916 José López Domínguez
7 Enrique de Yllana y Sánchez de Vargas 1 September 1916 – April 12, 1924 Álvaro de Figueroa
8 José Corral y Larre 12 April – 28 June 1924 Miguel Primo de Rivera
9 Arturo Foreat Rivera 28 June 1924 – 4 February 1930
10 Enrique de Yllana y Sánchez de Vargas 4 February – 27 April 1930 Dámaso Berenguer
11 Adolfo Sixto Hontán 27 April 1930 – 1938 Niceto Alcalá Zamora
Spanish Civil War
12 Eugenio Gómez Pereira 13 March 1942 – 7 September 1951 Francisco Franco
13 José Manuel Rozas Eguiburu 7 September 1951 – 27 July 1965
14 Felicísimo de Blas Hernando 27 July 1965 – 2 July 1973
15 Joaquín Collada Andréu 2 July 1973 – 6 June 1976 Luis Carrero Blanco
16 Augusto Gutiérrez Robles 6 June 1976 – 18 July 1980 Carlos Arias Navarro
17 Ignacio Montaño Jiménez 18 July 1980 – 24 December 1982 Adolfo Suárez
18 Juan Francisco Martín Seco 24 December 1982 – 23 February 1984 Felipe González
19 Ricardo Bolufer Nieto 23 February 1984 – 7 October 1988
20 Juan Aracil Martín 7 October 1988 – 23 March 1991
21 Purificación Esteso Ruiz 23 March 1991 – 15 July 1994
22 Gregorio Máñez Vindel 15 July 1994 – 7 May 1996
23 Rafael Muñoz López-Carmona 7 May 1996 – 10 September 1999 José María Aznar
24 Alicia Díaz Zurro 10 September 1999 – 24 April 2004
25 José Alberto Pérez Pérez 24 April 2004 – 13 January 2012 José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
26 José Carlos Alcalde Hernández 13 January 2012 – 25 November 2016 Mariano Rajoy
27 María Luisa Lamela Diaz 25 November 2016 – 23 June 2018
28 Pablo Arellano Pardo 23 June 2018 – present Pedro Sánchez

References

edit
  1. ^ "IGAE:Intervención General de la Administración del Estado". www.igae.pap.hacienda.gob.es (in European Spanish). Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  2. ^ "Royal Decree 1113/2018, of September 7, by which the basic organic structure of the Ministry of the Treasury is developed". www.boe.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 October 2018.