New Delhi: The central government has decided to establish the Government Accounting Standards Advisory Board (GASAB) for the centre and states.

This was revealed by Comptroller and Auditor General of India V N Kaul while speaking on 'Emerging Role of CFOs' during a national conference on 'Good Governance,' organised jointly by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).

The board will be headed by the deputy comptroller and auditor general (accounts) with the controller general of civil accounts, the controller general of defence accounts, the financial commissioner (railways) and the additional secretary (budget).

For wider representation, the other members of the board will include the deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India, the president of ICAI, the director general of NCAER and principal finance secretaries of four states by rotation.

Kaul said the main responsibility of the board is to formulate and propose standards that will improve transparency and usefulness of financial reports.

Department of Company Affairs secretary Vinod Dhall said the government will not like to have excessive interference in the company affairs but liberalisation has necessitated a stronger role of government regulators.

''Regulators are necessary for speedy and effective enforcement of laws,'' he added, expressing the hope that the regulatory mechanism will be able to restore confidence in the system.