Ravi says accountants should have protested against past corrupt practices
Finance Minister Ravi Karunananayake dropped a bombshell this week when he asked professional accountants attending a Colombo event whether they discharged their duties well by not exposing corrupt practices of the previous regime.
He lambasted auditors for not showing due diligence when preparing accounts of state owned enterprises during the period of the previous regime.
“As chartered accountants and auditors if you examine your conscious you will all be shamed by the corrupt practices done by politicians in the past. Where is the responsibility you discharged? It was high time that we stand up to professional ethics. In a friendly gesture I must say that we all had failed miserably,” he said.
The Minister made these remarks at the launch of the Chartered Public Finance Accountants Qualification at the Chartered Institute of Accountants in Colombo, this week. He said he was astonished when probing into matters that existed at the Finance Ministry owing to lack of information pertaining to financial matters and a number of missing files.
“Good governance does not mean ignoring what has happened in the past and moving forward.”
He said as a practicing Chartered Institute of Management Accountant (CIMA) and as an MP he has experience of taking stock of public finance accounting and auditing. “We are still sifting through data in relation to government transactions in the recent past and the findings are alarming. The tip of the iceberg is almost an iceberg itself.” He said management of public finance is a vital ingredient of good governance and as the Minister of Finance he will ensure a better tomorrow.
“We will also ensure that the benefits are equally distributed among people than a selected few. Countries in the world in world have strived to reform public sector finance and Sri Lanka cannot be an exception. However I am not happy with the reforms initiated by the government of Sri Lanka in the recent past. Reforms initiated by us in 2002-2003 were stalled by the present government. We are committed to bring good governance and accountability by introducing public finance management,” he said.
He added that the Financial and Administrative Regulations have been sidelined in the past at opportune times. “Take for instance Sri Lankan Airlines … your auditors had signed balance sheets where billions of rupees amounting to Rs. 32 billion have been lost continuously for 6-7 years. Banks are in the same mess. Professionalism has to be brought back to auditing standards.”
He said Public Finance Management will be a top priority in his agenda. Old regulations relating to public finance have to be modernised to ensure transparency and accountability. He then recalled the masterpiece of legislation they introduced in 2002 to enhance transparency and accountability that provided checks and balances to good governance. The World Bank too proposed initiating an action plan in 2002 to develop public finance and was willing to fund the project but unfortunately the government changed and the new government did not implement the proposal.
Had they implemented those proposals there wouldn’t be any corruption. He said, “We do not want to only reduce corruption but eradicate it completely. Today we have a Treasury without money but it is now in good hands and we hope to resurrect it.”
The minister further said he was happy that CA Sri Lanka has initiated new programmes that will assist in dealing with public finances. It is through public finance that could bring accountability.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the CA Sri Lanka President Arjuna Herath and Ian Ball, Chair of CIPFA London.