An international seminar on accounting practices opened on Monday with Finance Commission chairman C Rangarajan asking the government to ensure better expenditure control for containing fiscal deficit.

"While the reduction in fiscal deficit involves several policy decisions, government accountants can play an important part to ensure better expenditure control, improved public expenditure productivity and better cash management," Rangarajan said while inaugurating the 3-day seminar 'Accounting for Results' in New Delhi.

Welcoming the diluted Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Bill, he noted that the legislation has created an institutional framework for ensuring fiscal discipline and the government would now be obliged to present a Medium Term Fiscal Policy statement.

He, however, regretted that the Bill has not set the roadmap for wiping out revenue deficit within five years.

Voicing concern over the spate of corporate accounting scandals, Rangarajan said, "Accounting practices have been designed to hide and conceal rather than educate and inform."

"The exposure of these financial reporting practices has led to a great deal of scepticism about the profession of accountants," he said, adding there was a need for better ethical standards among the professionals who were found to be 'hand in glove' with the management.

While that might not be directly applicable to government accountants, he said, "The fundamental issue of whether accountants have been able to present the true picture of the institutions, however, remains the same."