The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) today published for public comment a proposed amendment to IFRS 1 First-time Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards.

The proposed amendment sets out how a first-time adopter would account for a government loan with a below-market rate of interest when they transition to IFRSs.

If adopted, this amendment would provide the same relief to first-time adopters as is granted to existing preparers of IFRS financial statements when applying IAS 20 Accounting for Government Grants and Disclosure of Government Assistance.

The exposure draft, Government Loans (Proposed amendments to IFRS 1),  is open for comment until 5 January 2012 and can be accessed via the ‘Comment on a Proposal’section.

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