A research team of Israeli academics and professionals, associated with the State Comptroller's Office of Israel, has put together and edited a book of readings on State Audit and Accountability. After careful selection and in cooperation with several supreme audit institutions they commissioned, selected or wrote themselves contributions on the principles, methodology and practice of state audit, a mirror of what state audit is or ought to be in the nineties.
The Reader contains 25 contributions from all over the world, half of them written especially for this volume. The Reader was prepared to serve the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) Development Initiative (IDI), devoted to the training and professional development of state auditors. It will interest both audit practitioners and the growing community of social science researchers concerned with state audit and its editors believe and hope that the Reader will serve as a basic reference book for the INTOSAI community. Two copies have been sent by IDI to all member audit institutions of INTOSAI. Additional copies may be purchased directly for 30 US dollars by writing to Robert Schwartz, State Comptroller's Office, P.O. Box 1081, Jerusalem 91010, Israel.
Centuries before Christ, the Tamil Sage Tiruvalluvar defined the financial responsibilities of an ideal Ruler as follows:
"A wise ruler is one who knows how to develop the resources of his kingdom, how to collect and guard his revenues and how to spend them wisely."
No modern day expert in public finance has put the idea so succintly and pithily. Economy does not mean spending little but spending wisely and productively. It is the function of the audit to see that the rulers of the day adhere to the ancient dictum scrupulously.
Mr.R. Venkataraman
President of India