neoaccounting

The way governments account for the profits made from commodities like oil can encourage unsustainable behaviour, according to the Goa Foundation. Should accounting rules be changed? Norway's sovereign wealth fund, filled with the country's oil cash, is the biggest in the world in terms of assets under management.   The perils – and tensions – over how pension liabilities are treated in government accounts are well known. But according to one Indian NGO, another accounting anomaly, with implications not just for financial sustainability and intergenerational fairness, but the environment, corruption and even the accuracy of GDP figures, is slipping comparatively under the radar. Rahul Basu of the Goa Foundation told  PF International  that a relatively simple accounting change could alleviate “much of the resource curse”, help countries avoid significant volatility in their finances and prompt the perspective change on resource extraction needed to stem climate cha...

15 Aug 17 The Asian Development Bank has issued two types of green bond, raising $1.25bn to finance climate change projects. For the first time it has offered a five-year green bond alongside 10-year green bonds. ADB treasurer Pierre Van Peteghem said the bank needed to respond rapidly to growing demand for green bonds. “We have found the dual-pronged approach…to be an efficient means of reaching ethical investors active at different segments of the yield curve," he said. "This approach means that ADB is reaching an increasing number of investors who understand the importance of the green label.” A total of $750m was raised through the issue of the five-year bond, and $500m through the 10-year bond. Money raised will fund low carbon and climate resilient projects funded through the bank’s capital resources and used in its non-concessional operations. In 2015, the ADB announced its ambition to double its annual climate financing to $6bn by 2020. Of this, ...

Malta’s ministry of finance is working towards introducing accrual accounting to all government departments over the next two and a half years. The Maltese government signed a deal last month awarding financial services firm Grant Thornton Malta the contract to implement the system, worth an estimated €11.6m. Finance minister Edward Scicluna tweeted on the day:   Rob Whiteman, chief executive of CIPFA, said: “Importantly, the Maltese government’s ambition is to make full use of the information it generates. "The transition from cash to accrual accounting is a key part of strengthening a country’s public financial management and accrual based information should be used to inform the budgetary decision making which will improve fiscal sustainability, good governance and transparency.” As well as implementing the Corporate Financial Management Solution system over the next 30 months, the Maltese government has promised to provide intense training for existing and new...