Many countries around the world have undertaken rapid, wide-ranging, and substantial actions to respond to COVID-19 pandemic. These actions include the stimulus packages injected by those countries in their economies in order to deal with the social and economic challenges that both individuals and organizations are facing as the result of COV-19 pandemic. The focus of those stimulus packages can be grouped into categories such as. 1/ direct government support (e.g. income support and unemployment benefit), 2/ businesses support (e.g. loan, grant, delay to tax payment), and 3/ support for finance industries (e.g. lowering interest rate, repurchase bonds and other issued securities. The above-mentioned governments support to businesses and citizens has raised some concerns regarding the adequacy of the current government accounting practices in enabling the transparency, comparability, and comprehensiveness of the accounting reporting of government organizations, and whether the current government accounting systems are able to provide accounting information that can help in measuring the impact of these stimulus packages on both economies and people. As part of the effort to combat the effect of COV19 Pandemic and its adverse effect on economy, Qatar took similar steps that are followed by other countries and revealed a generous stimulus packages in May 2020 worth 75 billion Qatari riyals for the private sector in order to to help mitigate the economic impact of the COV19 outbreak. This package was accompanied by re-planning of the government sector financial resources with the intention to rationalize spending and increase all types of resources needed for combating COV-19. This large spending will require an appropriate accounting and reporting systems that enable the scrutiny of government spending and as well as public servants decisions on how to use financial resources. A special Interest Group (SIG), many of its members are Qatar university graduates, have expressed their concern about the relevance and adequacy of the accounting basis that is currently used in Qatar for the government accounting reporting. Assume that your team is part of that (SIG) and are intending to investigate the relevance and adequacy of the current government accounting basis used in Qatari government for government accounting reporting on the effect of the stimulus packages on individuals and economy.

1. Describe the main features of the current accounting basis used in Qatari government accounting. Your answer should include:

a. The strength, and

b. The weaknesses of the current accounting basis.

2. Based on the opinion you express in 1.b, you are required to either propose an alternative accounting basis OR provide some advice on how to improve the current accounting basis used in Qatari Government accounting in order to fill in the reporting gaps identified as part of these weaknesses.

3. Show how this alternative accounting basis OR the enhanced accounting basis can help the government in planning and control of the resources spent in: 1/direct government support, 2/ businesses support, and 3/ support for finance industries.