Zimbabwe confirms commitment to accruals

22 Mar 18

The government of Zimbabwe has reaffirmed its commitment to implementing as accruals based accounting system to enhance transparency and accountability.

The country’s central government, urban and rural local authorities have been using traditional cash accounting since 1923, but has pledged to make the move to accruals and to align with the International Public Sector Accounting Standard.

Finance and economic planning deputy Terrence Mukupe said this week at a roundtable on the country’s move towards accrual accounting, that the adoption from cash to accruals puts the government on the “same footing and platform as the private sector in terms of how assets are valued and accounted for and what exposures the government has in terms of liabilities to taxpayers”.

The adoption of accruals is part of a wider public finance management reform in the public sector.

This comes as CIPFA and IFAC are in Zimbabwe at an ongoing stakeholders’ roundtable on Zimbabwe’s migration to accruals.

At the start of 2018, the International Federation of Accountants said it would assist Zimbabwe in building a stronger public sector financial capacity, after president Emmerson Mnangagwa called for improved accountability and transparency.

The former president Robert Mugabe resigned in November last year under duress after he resisted the military’s attempts to oust people close to him who many regarded as criminals.

Mnangagwa, the former vice president, was sworn in as the new leader on 23 November.

The World Bank also called for the government to take bold measures to reform its public spending and lift the country out of financial crisis. 

IFAC’s chief executive Fayez Choudhury told PF International in January: “IFAC is an avid champion of sound public financial management and quality public financial reporting.

“President Mnangagwa’s call for greater accountability is an opportunity to enhance confidence in government through high-quality financial information, which is also key to better use of scarce resources, better public services and other important public interest outcomes.

“The accountancy profession in Zimbabwe has an important role to play during this significant moment in the nation’s history.”

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