Choosing ‘Basics First’ Over Best Practices? An Overview of the Troika's Role on the Greek Central Government Accounting Reforms

Purpose: This paper explores the role the Troika's advent played in the progress of the budgeting and the financial reporting systems reformat the Greek central government level.Design/methodology/approach: The approach of an extreme country-case study is adopted. The data used in the paper have been identified through document analysis performed on the relevant documents produced by the Troika, the Greek Ministry of Finance, and other relevant sources. The reform process is seen through the lens of the neo-institutional theory and the resource dependency theory.Findings: Although both reforms targeted the introduction of best international practices - particularly useful in periods of financial distress and scarce resources - the advent of the Troika affected their progress and changed the priorities. As a result, the reform was redirected towards strengthening the cash budgeting system.Originality/value: The role of external fund providers in public sector financial management reform priority-setting, in the case of a developed Eurozone country is analyzed. The study contributes to the research agenda on accounting practices in times of austerity.Limitations: The study is subject to the limitations of an extreme case study research.Practical implications: This is a case where resource dependency changes political priorities and directions and affects the evolvement of state budget and accounting reforms under way