President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, met the newly elected council of the Association of Certified Public Accountants in Lebanon headed by Afif Sharara.

President Aoun stressed that “Forensic audit in Central Bank accounts, which began two years and a few months late since the Council of Ministers took the decision to adopt it in March 2020, will not stop until it reaches practical results, no matter how obstacles and difficulties are placed in its way”.

The President indicated that “The work of accountancy experts is important and accurate, and their responsibility is great in achieving financial order in the public and private sectors. The basis for this business is trust, accuracy, and honesty”.

In addition, the President indicated that the obstacles that were placed in front of the reform process that he sought to achieve since before assuming the presidency of the first, and during his assumption of this responsibility, were many, especially in terms of revealing the financial violations committed over the past years, and the failure to approve the state budget only in 2017.

“Not to mention the lack of scrutiny in fiscal years since the 1990s. My determination is clear from the first moment to correct the imbalance that afflicted the financial situation in the country, but the obstacles that were placed in the way were many, especially in terms of exposing the sources of corruption and the perpetrators” President Aoun continued.

Moreover, President Aoun stressed that he will continue to work in the remainder of his presidential term to provide the necessary foundations and appropriate grounds for the reform process to continue with the next President of the Republic.

For his part, Sharara had introduced to President Aoun the members of the new council of the Association of Certified Public Accountants in Lebanon after the elections that took place on June 19, pointing out that the Association includes 2,500 accountants with high qualifications and experience that qualifies them to carry out their responsibilities in financial auditing and preparing water and economic bills.

Sharara also pointed out that “Lebanon, through the Syndicate of Accounting Experts, was the first to establish the Federation of Accountants for French-speaking Countries, and assumed its presidency for two consecutive terms, and the Syndicate also contributed to the establishment of the Federation of Arab Accountants”.

Sharara also revealed that the Lebanese experts are able to contribute to all audit work in the Banque du Liban and other banks, wondering why they were excluded from these tasks despite the experts’ willingness to participate in the rescue operation and the current economic advancement.

At the end, President Aoun wished the new council of the Syndicate success in its duties, and received from Sharara a book prepared by the Syndicate on the achievements of accountants entitled: “The Syndicate of Certified Public Accountants in Lebanon – A Profession and History”.

The delegation included the experts: Deputy President, Marwan Bou Zeidan, Secretary, Pierre Kamed, Treasurer Jamal Madhoun, Reserve Secretary, Muhammad Blaiq, Reserve Treasurer,Giselle Abdo, and advisors: Alfred Neama, Mahmoud Mizher, Nasrallah Fattouni, Nabil Ghaith, and a member of the Disciplinary Council Nizar Farhat, and Nadine Aoun, the Union’s General Secretary.