Accounting Reforms on the Agenda in Azerbaijan

Posted by Mark Silins

The Treasury Community of Practice (TCOP) of PEMPAL[1] conducted a highly interactive three-day workshop entitled “Public Sector Accounting Policies and Practices” from November 6–8, 2012.  Treasury heads and specialists from 18 TCOP-member countries, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Finance of France, took part in the workshop held in Baku, Azerbaijan. The workshop was supported by experts from the World Bank, OECD, SECO and the Slovenian Centre of Excellence in Finance.

The general objective of the Baku event was to provide an opportunity for TCOP members to exchange experiences in implementing public sector accounting and reporting reforms. The event was designed to deepen participants’ understanding of the conceptual, institutional and operational challenges associated with the implementation of accounting reforms, particularly transition to the use of accruals and alignment with IPSAS. The event involved some very informative presentations by officials from participating countries on good practice and practical tips and traps associated with this area of reform, supplemented by input from a small number of international experts. This approach provided a useful basis for a range of dynamic group discussions by TCOP-member countries. As the host country, Azerbaijan also provided detailed information on its broader economic and PFM reforms to date, along with its plans for the future.

PEMPAL2The following is a brief summary of the main findings of the workshop.

Three new initiatives were discussed as possible areas for further work by TCOP member countries:

A more detailed report on the event is available. Presentations from the event can also be reviewed. 

The next PEMPAL workshop is scheduled for April 2013 in Kiev, Ukraine, for which the theme will be “Internal Control and the Role of the Treasury”.

 


[1]Public Expenditure Management Peer Assisted Learning (PEMPAL) aims to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and transparency of public expenditure in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia countries.  The program supports activities that bring practitioners in public finance together in COPs to enhance peer learning through benchmarking performance for implementation of reforms in public finance. For more information on PEMPAL please go to www.pempal.com.

Note: The posts on the IMF PFM Blog should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. 

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