KARACHI, Feb 2: Governor State Bank of Pakistan Dr Ishrat Husain during his visit to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) had stated that ICAP was a role model for a self-regulatory organization.

A press release issued by ICAP on Wednesday stated that Mr Husain had observed that he considered the institute to be a benchmark, in view of its high professional and ethical standards.

The State Bank governor stressed on the need to train more young professional accountants for postings abroad, to boost the country's export earnings, reducing reliance on the textile sector.

Dr Husain did suggest the need for chartered accountancy education and training to be more broad based, which is the international trend, and also ICAP's policy as is evident from the institute's current syllabi.

He also suggested the possibility of a separate qualification for CFOs. "It may be noted that approximately 80 per cent of Pakistani chartered accountants are currently employed in commerce and industry, many of whom hold the position of CFOs", concluded the ICAP statement.