The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria on Wednesday said that for Nigeria to achieve its objective of becoming one of the top 20 economies by year 2020, it would require an annual growth rate of 15 per cent in Gross Domestic Product.
The country’s GDP grew by 8.23 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2009, up from 4.50, 7.22 and 7..07 per cent in the first, second, and third quarters, respectively. Overall, GDP growth for 2009 was 6.90 per cent which is significantly higher than the 5.98 per cent recorded in 2008.
The Institute also said that the federal government still needed to carry out massive investments in infrastructural facilities, re-engineering of the financial and payment systems, strengthening of financial institutions, as well as building of human and physical capacity to meet the challenges of being a financial hub.
Nigeria is currently placed on the 39th position among the world’s largest economies. The President of ICAN, Mrs Elizabeth Adegite who said these at a seminar for Chartered Accountants in the Public Sector said there was need for the public as well as private sector organisations to adopt global best practices in accounting, auditing and financial reporting.
This, she noted, would help to reduce the menace of corrupt practices in the country. The 45th President of the institute said that since the dearth of accounting and auditing standards in the public sector was profound, there was need to bridge the gap in Public sector accounting standards to meet that of international best practices.
According to her, “For Nigeria to achieve this goal, we need massive investments in infrastructural facilities, re-engineering of the financial and payment systems, strengthening of our institutions, building of human and physical capacity to meet the challenges of being a financial hub, deliberate adoption of global best practices in accounting, auditing and financial reporting, elimination of corrupt practices.
“Undoubtedly, the dearth of accounting and auditing standards in the Public Sector is profound. While the Guidelines of International Organisations of Supreme Audit Institutions are used, they are just guidelines with no force of law. Accordingly, they are not expected to and cannot supplant standards. Worse still, these guidelines often leave room for discretion and best of judgement of the public officials.
“Since the adoption of International Public Sector Accounting Standards and International Public Sector Standards on Auditing is now the trends globally, we need to bridge this gap in standards such that our financial statements can be internationally comparable.”
“This is a precondition for attracting foreign direct investments. As we seek to adopt these standards, we must build capacity particularly in public sector accounting and ancillary services such that financial reports prepared and presented by the government and corporate entities doing business in Nigeria can continue to meet Global Best Practices in terms of quality, technical content, transparency of rules and stakeholders’ friendliness.”
(Source:Punch)
