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Vanuatu Consolidated Legislation - 1988 |
Commencement: 29 July 1980
Repealed
LAWS OF THE REPUBLIC OF VANUATU
REVISED EDITION 1988
CHAPTER 117
PUBLIC FINANCE
JR 24 of 1980
Act 6 of 1983
Act 5 of 1985
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
SECTION
PART I
Interpretation
PART II
Powers and Duties of the Minister and Accounting Officers
2. Powers of Minister
3. Duties of accounting officers
PART III
Public Finance
6. Issues from Revenue Fund
7. Investment of Revenue Fund and other public monies
9. Special funds
10. Development Fund
11. Deposits
12. Advances
13. Guarantees to be approved by Parliament
PART IV
Control of Expenditure
17. Supplementary estimates
18. Provision for urgent and unforeseen expenditure
19. Virements
20. Expenditure in excess of appropriation
PART V
Abandonments of Claims and Writes-off
of Public Monies and Public Stores
21. Abandonments and writes-off
22. Disposal of serviceable Stores etc. to certain organisations
PART VI
Accounts and Audit
PART VII
General
SCHEDULE 1 Compagnie de Navigation Inter-lies South Pacific Fishing
Company
SCHEDULE 2 Deferred Pay Fund
Re-afforestion Fund
Housing Loan Fund
Radar Wind-Sonde Excess Contribution Fund
STABEX Fund
Agricultural Loans Fund
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PUBLIC FINANCE
To provide for the establishment of a Revenue Fund, a Development Fund and other special funds; and for the control and management of the finances of the Government of the Republic of Vanuatu, for the collection, issue and payment of public moneys and for other matters connected therewith.
PART I
INTERPRETATION
1. In this Act unless the context otherwise requires -
"accounting officer" includes every public officer who is charged by the Minister with the duty of collecting, receiving or accounting for, or who in fact collects, receives or accounts for, any public moneys, or who is charged with the duty of disbursing or who does disburse any public moneys and every public officer who is charged with the receipt, custody or disposal of, or the accounting for, public stores or who in fact receives, holds, disposes of, or accounts for public stores;
"Appropriation Act" means any Act to apply a sum out of the Revenue Fund for the service of a financial year and includes a Supplementary Appropriation Act;
"Revenue Fund" means the Revenue Fund established by section 4;
"financial year" means a period of 12 months ending on 31 December or any other period of 12 months so declared by the Minister;
"Minister" means the Minister for the time being responsible for finance;
"public stores" means all things of whatsoever nature, the property of or in possession of or under the control of the Government;
"special fund" means a fund established or considered to have been established by or under section 9;
"statutory expenditure" means expenditure charged on the Revenue Fund by the Constitution or any Act (including this Act) other than an Appropriation Act.
PART II
POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE MINISTER
AND ACCOUNTING OFFICERS
(2) The powers, duties and functions of the Minister under this Act may be exercised by any officer, agent or trustee, authorized by him in writing to the extent of the authority contained in such writing.
DUTIES OF ACCOUNTING OFFICERS
PART III
PUBLIC FINANCE
PAYMENTS INTO REVENUE FUND
ISSUES FROM REVENUE FUND
(2) Any monies forming part of the Revenue Fund which are -
(a) invested in accordance with the provisions of section 7; or
(b) advanced in accordance with the provisions of section 12;
shall be considered not to have been issued from the Revenue Fund for the purposes of this section.
INVESTMENT OF REVENUE FUND AND OTHER PUBLIC MONIES
(2) All public monies paid into a bank shall be the property of the Government lent by the Government to the bank.
(3) No accounting officer shall open any public or official account in any bank without the authority in writing of the Minister and no bank shall permit any Government account to be overdrawn without the prior approval of the Minister or in accordance with the provisions of section 8.
(4) Money standing to the credit of the Government with any bank, or otherwise held by the Government, may be invested by the Minister -
(a) by deposit in any bank or in any joint fund maintained overseas for investment of Government monies; or
(b) as otherwise authorised by this Act or any other Act or by resolution of Parliament.
(5) The monies invested in shares held by the Government in the bodies set out in Schedule 1 at the time of the coming into force of this Act shall be considered properly invested for the purposes of this Section.
(6) Interest from the monies invested in accordance with the provisions of subsection (4) shall be credited to the Revenue Fund except where it is provided in any Act or under the rules of any special account that the interest received from the investment of any monies standing to the credit of any special account kept by the Treasury shall be paid to the credit of that special account.
RESTRICTIONS ON BORROWING
(2) The principal and interest of all borrowed monies shall be charged upon and paid out of the Revenue Fund without further authority than this Act.
SPECIAL FUNDS
(2) Special funds shall not form part of the Revenue Fund.
(3) The special funds set out in Schedule 2 shall be considered to have been established in accordance with the provisions of subsection (1) and the balance standing to the credit of each of them at the close of account on the coming into operation of this Act shall be considered to have been appropriated by the Minister for the purposes specified in respect of each fund.
(4) The Minister may direct that any special fund established or considered to have been established in accordance with the provisions of this section shall be wound up and thereupon after all the liabilities of such fund have been paid, the fund shall be closed accordingly.
(5) The balance of monies standing to the credit of any special fund wound up and closed under the provisions of subsection (4) shall be paid into the Revenue Fund.
DEVELOPMENT FUND
(2) It shall be lawful for the Development Fund to be in debit at any one time to an amount not exceeding VT500,000,000 or such other sum as Parliament may from time to time by resolution approve.
DEPOSITS
(2) The Minister in his discretion may authorise the use of deposits for the purpose of making advances for all or any of the purposes stated in section 12.
ADVANCES
(a) on behalf of and recoverable from other Governments;
(b) on behalf of public bodies or institutions when in the opinion of the Minister such advances are in the public interest and are repayable within a period of 5 years from the close of the financial year in which such advances are made;
(c) to or on account of any special fund when such advances are recoverable before the close of the financial year in which such advances are made;
(d) to public officers for such purposes and under such terms and conditions as may be prescribed from time to time;
(e) to meet expenditure authorised by a loan Act in anticipation of the receipt of any instalment of the loan authorised by such Act.
(2) The total of the sums disbursed for the purpose of making advances in accordance with subsection (1) shall not exceed in aggregate at any one time, after deducting repayments, an amount of VT200,000,000.
GUARANTEES TO BE APPROVED BY PARLIAMENT
PART IV
CONTROL OF EXPENDITURE
ANNUAL ESTIMATES
(2) Subject to subsection (3) the estimates of revenue and expenditure laid before Parliament shall be in such form as the Minister may from time to time direct.
(3) (a) The estimates of statutory expenditure shall show the sums to be
issued from the Revenue Fund to meet the expenditure of each service of the Government and shall contain a reference to the law authorising the expenditure of such service to be charged on the Revenue Fund.
(b) the estimates of other expenditure shall describe the ambit of each head and shall show the sum required to be applied to such head by appropriation from the Revenue Fund.
AUTHORISATION OF EXPENDITURE
(2) Subject to subsection (3), on the coming into operation of the Appropriation Act the Minister shall authorise by warrant under his hand the issue from the Revenue Fund of such sums as may have been applied to the service of the financial year by such Appropriation Act.
(3) Notwithstanding the issue of a warrant under subsection (2) the Minister may limit or suspend any expenditure (not being statutory expenditure) with or without cancellation of the warrant if in his opinion financial exigencies or the public interest so require.
(4) The Minister shall authorise by warrant under his hand the issue from the Revenue Fund of the sums required during the financial year to meet statutory expenditure.
PROVISIONAL APPROPRIATION
SUPPLEMENTARY ESTIMATES
PROVISION FOR URGENT AND UNFORESEEN EXPENDITURE
(d) which is due to exceptional circumstances which could not have been fore- seen;
may by a contingencies warrant under his hand, but only with the prior approval of the Council of Ministers in anticipation of the grant of an appropriation, authorise the issue of monies from the Revenue Fund to meet that need.
(2) The total of the sums which may be authorised under subsection (1) shall not exceed at any one time an amount of VT100,000,000 or such other sum as Parliament may by resolution from time to time approve.
(3) Where any issue is made from the Revenue Fund under the provisions of this section a supplementary estimate of the sum required for the service for which such issue was made shall be presented to Parliament at its meeting next following the date on which the warrant was issued and shall be included in a Supplementary Appropriation Bill.
VIREMENTS
(2) When the Minister issues a warrant under subsection (1)
(a) the sum appropriated to any head by the Appropriation Act shall not be thereby exceeded; and
(b) the ambit of any item shall be within the ambit of the head within which it is created.
EXPENDITURE IN EXCESS OF APPROPRIATION
PART V
ABANDONMENTS OF CLAIMS AND WRITE-OFF
OF PUBLIC MONIES AND PUBLIC STORES
ABANDONMENTS AND WRITES-OFF
(2) The Minister in his discretion may by writing under his hand delegate to any public officer any of the powers which he is authorised to exercise by resolution of Parliament under this section.
DISPOSAL OF SERVICEABLE STORES ETC. TO CERTAIN ORGANISATIONS
PART VI
ACCOUNTS AND AUDIT ANNUAL ACCOUNTS AND AUDIT
(a) a statement of assets and liabilities;
(b) a summarised account of receipts and payments;
(c) a detailed statement of revenue and expenditure;
(d) a summarised account of receipts and payments for the Development Fund; and
(e) such other statement as Parliament may from time to time require.
PART VII
GENERAL REGULATIONS
(a) the collection, receipt, custody, issue, expenditure, due accounting for, care and management of all public monies and the guidance of all persons concerned therewith;
(b) the effective recording, examination, inspection and checking of receipts and expenditure and the keeping of all necessary books and accounts;
(c) the forms for all accounts, books and documents whatsoever required under the provisions of this Act or regulations made hereunder;
(d) the purchase, safe custody, issue, sale or other disposal or writing-off of public stores and other property of the Government and the proper accounting for and stocktaking of such stores and property;
(e) the preparation of estimates of revenue and expenditure of the Government;
(f) the authorisation of rates of payment of public funds not provided for by this Act or any other Act; and
(g) the making of advances to public officers and the rates and limits of such advances and the rates of interest thereon.
(2) Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, any regulations made in accordance with this section shall be published in such manner as the Minister may specify therein but shall not have retrospective effect.
__________________________
SCHEDULE 1
Compagnie de Navigation Inter-Iles
South Pacific Fishing Company
____________________________
SCHEDULE 2
Deferred Pay Fund
Re-afforestion Fund
Housing Loan Fund
Radar Wind-Sonde Excess Contribution Fund
STABEX Fund
Agricultural Loans Fund
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