Professional accountants can help govt in managing pandemic purse strings
Professional accountants can play a big role in the government's efforts to tackle the damages done by the coronavirus outbreak in Bangladesh, said Commerce Secretary Md Jafar Uddin yesterday.
He shed light on the stimulus package initiative taken by the government and said the government will take the necessary steps to implement cost audit in all public limited companies. He expressed his hope that a new conceptual framework will emerge from this pandemic situation.
The secretary spoke on Friday at an international webinar organised by the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB) on "the challenges and role of professional accountants amid and post COVID-19 era".
The global leaders and professional bodies of accountants should work together in a combined platform to tackle the Covid-19 outbreak, said ICMAB President Md Jasim Uddin Akond.
It is very unfortunate that the cost audit in all public limited companies has not yet been ensured although notice was issued in this regard in 2001, he said.
The post-COVID-19 situation will be a different and complicated situation and professional accountants will be able to give big services at that moment and they will need support from relevant sectors also, he added.
The global economy might be far worse than the 2008 global economic crisis as almost all organisations and all sectors of the economy, including professional accountants, auditors and consultants, had been facing unexpected, unprecedented and extreme challenges to survive amid the pandemic, said ICMAB's past president and present Council Member Abu Sayed Md Shaykhul Islam.
While presenting a paper as keynote speaker, Islam identified liquidity shortage and cash management in the corporate world as the main challenges for businesses and professionals.
He also expressed hope that the world would overcome the pandemic one day and they would start a fresh journey of growth again.
The farm sector had not been affected that much in Bangladesh as the government had been proved very successful in handling the agriculture issues and paddy harvesting.
He also underscored the need for running audits on proper disbursement of funds of the government's announced stimulus package.
The coronavirus might be an opportunity for the accounting, auditing and consulting regime to further grow under digital platforms and survive in the changed global socioeconomic scenario caused by coronavirus, Islam added.
ICMAB's Past President and present Council Member Arif Khan played the role of the commentator of the webinar while the institute's Vice President Md Mamunur Rashid conducted and moderated the event.
The members of South Asian Federation of Accountants, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, the Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nepal and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh also attended the event.
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