Sri Lanka accounting body urges govt to maintain & publish accounts

Sep 02, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Institute of Chartered Accountants, a professional accounting, body urged the government to maintain accounts and publish them, as the government is answerable to the public for how they use income.



“Public sector is a very important area.





We are making all endeavors for government to move in to accounting which is fundamental to proper accountability,” Arjuna Herath, president of Chartered Accountants Sri Lanka, said.

“We really do not know what the net worth of the government is. Are we progressing in terms of net worth or are we declining.





” “All the investments we are making, are they actually building wealth or are we not?” “To know that, we fundamentally need a balance sheet of the government which we do not have today. And the reason for that is not having actual accounting.



” Sri Lanka’s government sector in which the salaries and bills are paid mainly from money of ordinary people, was losing profits for many years due to various reasons including failed policies, inefficient workforce and insider deals. However, salaries of government employees, which were paid by the ordinary citizen of the isle, keep getting updated and used as a favorite political tool to gain more votes.

Sri Lanka’s rural sector has the majority of tax payers.

“Not only private sector, public sector also should follow the same rules and policies.



”