When the decision to produce and bring a play to the stage is made from the Theater Complex of the City of Buenos Aires (CTBA), it is not known how much money it will be necessary to spend. According to a report from the Buenos Aires Audit Office (AGCBA, for its acronym in Spanish) the entity that operates within the Ministry of Culture "has no statistics or reports" on the costs that are handled and that it is "difficult to establish the level of efficiency of the resources affected."

The CTBA is the body that manages the public halls of the City. It was created in 2000 and is made up of the San Martín, President Alvear, Sarmiento, Regio and la Ribera theaters.

The Audit also noted that the Complex makes "regular" use of direct purchases and contracting when the current regulations establish that such mechanisms must be exceptional. Likewise, it was pointed out that during 2007 50.4% of the purchases were made through the common and special small cash, for a total of $ 999,343. "Although the petty cash is a suitable tool for the production needs of the whole year, their use does not replace the formulation of a planning that provides for annual purchases," says the control body.

Some of the money from the small boxes was used to pay for prints, paintings, fabrics, computer hardware and electricity. But, for the AGCBA, these expenses "had to be provided in full in the budget" of the Complex. In fact, the Audit report, approved this year on data from 2007, detected a "breach of what is established in article 12 of Law 2095" for not having an annual plan of purchases.

On the other hand, the report says that the CTBA "does not base the programming" of works that it raises every year to the Ministry of Culture and that, as far as the artistic production, "decreased the offer of shows" with respect to previous seasons.