Daily Times

Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) announced that it was awarded a high-level project to develop a Professional Accreditation Programme in Public Financial Management (PFM) for Pakistan,

ACCA will be working with the World Bank and the Auditor General’s office to develop this accreditation programme. To formalise and prepare for the project ACCA has already signed MoUs with the partner authorities, the provincial governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the Auditor General’s office. This capacity building project is funded by the Multi Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) managed by the World Bank.

ACCA was selected for this project due to its expertise in capacity building work, with a proven track record of strengthening the accountancy profession globally. This extensive experience includes collaborating with Professional Accountancy Organisations (PAOs) and development agencies, employers, governments, regulators and other global partners to help build a stronger accountancy profession with a focus on developing tailored local solutions that meet global standards and benchmarks.

ACCA Markets Executive Director Stephen Heathcote said, “Given the pace of change and size of expenditure in the public sector in Pakistan, it’s critical that professionals working in the sector are equipped with the right skills to deal with the challenges ahead.”

He added that ACCA’s qualifications were designed to build the accountancy skills and knowledge of those working in the public sector to ensure that there was an effective management and stewardship of public funds. “ACCA’s twenty-year history, local infrastructure and on-going commitment to students, members, government and community in Pakistan makes us uniquely positioned to support this important national initiative,” he said.

MESA head of policy Arif Mirza said that recent changes in Pakistan translated to a greater responsibility for the federal and provincial governments for significantly increased resources and a step change was needed in the skills in public sector for public finance management.

“Effective budgeting and improving transparency is a must, especially as the government’s Vision 2025 aims to improve economic and social indicators of the country by significantly increasing government’s development budget over the next decade” said Arif Mirza, before adding, “We’re honoured to be part of this critical development in the professionalisation of public financial management in Pakistan.”

ACCA currently has the largest public sector footprint globally of all the accountancy bodies with approximately 64,000 ACCA members and students working in the public sector around the world.

Published in Daily Times, July 29^th 2018.