Retaining quality accountants a challenge: analysts

Attracting and retaining finance personnel, especially accountants, is crucial for the country to manage its vast public sector entities in a transparent manner, analysts said yesterday. 

It is extremely important for the public sector to have highly qualified accountants and auditors, said Brian Blood, chief executive officer of the Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA), at a programme at the capital's Sonargaon Hotel. 

He said attracting and retaining qualified finance personnel by the public sector is a challenge in other countries in Asia as well.

But it has been dealt with in a number of countries in the last 20-30 years.

“I do want to give them optimism that by doing the right things the quality of financial accounting, auditing and reporting in the public sector can start to match that of the private sector.”

He spoke at the opening ceremony of a roundtable styled “attracting and retaining finance personnel in Bangladesh's public sector”, organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh and the CAPA.

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said efficient and qualified people should be in the profession.

“We have that in Bangladesh. Our accountants are working hard in various sectors. As a result, our country is progressing very fast,” he added.

ICAB President Kamrul Abedin said a robust system of financial management is essential for the implementation of public sector policies.

He said accountants in Bangladesh are efficient in application of professional standards, especially international financial reporting, assurance and quality control standards, and are very familiar with international public sector accounting standards.

Blood said poor accountancy practices within the public sector are blamed, among other factors, for the recent debt crisis in Greece, Spain, Ireland, Italy and some other countries.

He said CAPA is confronting the issue of the public sector's ability to attract and retain the appropriate quantity and quality of finance personnel, accountants and auditors.

There are some inherent challenges to it though in the form of remuneration and employment opportunities, which seem to be greater in the private sector.

CAPA Director Anwaruddin Chowdhury said improved public financial management will result in more efficient utilisation of scarce public resources.

Muslim Chowdhury, additional secretary of the finance ministry, said the government would need to give some leeway to the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General to hire professionals when needed.

He said there has to be a second layer of accountancy and auditing personnel so they can help manage the whole financial sector. Syllabuses at universities have to be designed accordingly, he added.   

Bangladesh has about 50 state-run enterprises, said Jamaluddin Ahmed, a vice president of Bangladesh Economic Association.  Abbas Uddin Khan, a former president of ICAB, said there has to be a political will to improve public sector financial management. The remuneration structure at state enterprises also poses a challenge.

“If a bank pays a salary of Tk 2.5 lakh to a chartered accountant then why should they join a government entity which will give them Tk 40,000?” he asked.