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Republic of Montenegro
Ministry of Finance - Treasury Directions no. 64/2001 |
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Republic of Montenegro
Ministry of Finance - Treasury Directions no. 64/2001 |
Contents:
1. The Ministry of Finance Treasury Directions (hereinafter referred to as the Directions) shall be issued by the Minister of Finance.
2. The Directions are adopted and issued in accordance with Article 2 of the Budget Law, (hereinafter known as the Law) for the purpose of carrying out of the intentions and purposes of the Law. The Minister of Finance may issue additional orders, instructions, procedures, guidelines or directions to support these Directions.
3. The purpose of the Directions is to ensure that best practice financial
management is performed within the Government of the Republic of Montenegro (hereinafter known as the
Government). Where, in the opinion of the Minister of Finance, the result of strictly following these
Directions would, in particular circumstances, not be in the best interests of the Government, he has the
right to direct in writing the procedures to be followed in those particular circumstances. Any such
supplementary instructions must be copied to the External Auditor.
4. These Directions will be enacted within 12 months of the enactment of the Law in accordance with Article 59 of the Law.
5. The terms used in these Directions shall have the following meanings:
6. A Chief Finance Officers shall be responsible for the distribution and safe custody of copies of the Directions within his spending organisation. One copy of the Directions shall be issued to each Finance Officer. The Directions are government documents and are the property of the Government and not the officer to whom they are issued.
7. It shall be the responsibility of Finance Officers to ensure that their individual copy of the Directions is maintained in a clean, useable condition at all times.
8. Only the Minister of Finance may amend the Directions. Amendments to the Directions shall be advised to spending organizations by Instruction. Amendment to individual copies of the Directions within Finance Manuals shall be the responsibility of Finance Officers holding those copies.
9. The Minister, Director or person in charge of a spending unit, is by these Directions appointed ex officio the Chief Finance Officer of that spending unit.
10. The Minister of Finance has the right to appoint individual Government Officials within the Government Treasury and approve the appointments from spending organizations of Finance Officers to undertake financial tasks that result in:
11. A Chief Finance Officer has the right to appoint one or more Government Officials to perform the duties and responsibilities of an Approving Officer for a spending organization. The appointment shall be advised in writing to the Minister of Finance.
12. A Chief Finance Officer has the right to appoint one or more Government Officials to perform the duties and responsibilities of a Receiver of Revenue for a spending organization. The appointment shall be advised in writing to the Minister of Finance.
13. On the written nomination of a Chief Finance Officer the Minister of Finance shall approve one or more Government Officials of a spending organization to perform the duties and responsibilities of Certifying Officer for that spending organization.
14. The Minister of Finance will appoint one or more Government Officials as Authorizing Officers within the Government Treasury, or in exceptional cases, in any other spending organization.
15. A Government Officer appointed as an Approving Officer within a spending organization for the purposes of these Directions cannot also perform the duties of a Certifying Officer or Authorizing Officer.
16. Government Officers appointed as Finance Officers to undertake a financial task within the meaning of these Directions must be of sound moral character, trustworthy and reliable.
17. The Minister of Finance has the right to rescind, or refuse, the appointment of Government Officials as Finance Officers to undertake a financial task on the written request of a Chief Finance Officer, or at any time provided the decision and the justification of the decision is given in writing to the Chief Finance Officer.
18. Specimen signatures of each Government Official proposed or appointed as a Finance Officer must be lodged with the Minister of Finance. The Assistant Minister (Government Treasury) shall be responsible for maintaining a register of appointed Finance Officers.
19. All Finance Officers shall be aware of, and comply with, Article 2 of the Law in regard to their obligation to obey all orders, instructions, procedures, guidelines or directions issued by the Minister of Finance, or given under powers delegated by him.
20. In particular:
21. All Finance Officers shall be personally liable for the due performance of their financial tasks and may be held financially responsible, at the discretion of the Minister of Finance, for any losses, inaccuracies or errors during the performance of those financial tasks. Where a Finance Officer shall have delegated any duty to any staff member under his control, he cannot be relieved of, nor may he delegate, that personal and financial responsibility.
22. All Finance Officers with a responsibility for the handling or custody of government money, either in the form of cash or other negotiable instruments, have a personal responsibility to ensure that an accurate and complete Handing Over Certificate, in the prescribed format, is signed by both the "Handing-Over Officer" and the "Taking-Over Officer", in a hand-over of duties.
23. No Finance Officer shall accept cash or issue a receipt, or accept or issue negotiable instruments including stamps, share certificates, bills of exchange, or other security documents, until such time as the Handing Over Certificate has been completed and duly signed by the two officers referred to in Direction 22.
24. The Minister of Finance has the right to delegate to an official, by signed instrument, any of the Minister's powers or functions under these Directions. In exercising powers and functions under a delegation, the official must comply with any directions of the Minister. The delegation of such powers does not remove the responsibility of the Minister under these Directions.
25. A Chief Finance Officer has the right to delegate to an official, by signed instrument, any of the Chief Finance Officer's powers or functions under these Directions. In exercising powers and functions under a delegation, the official must comply with any directions of the Chief Finance Office. The delegation of such powers does not remove the responsibility of the Chief Finance Officer under these Directions.
26. No money shall be issued from the Treasury Consolidated Account except in the manner prescribed by Article 11.3 of the Law.
27. In accordance with Article 31 of the Law the Minister of Finance will issue warrants to spending units approving funds up to the limit determined by the annual Budget Law.
28. Funds Warrants shall be issued as documented advices setting out the details and conditions of the release of funds, signed by the Minister of Finance or his delegate, and recorded in the Treasury General Ledger of the Government Accounting and Financial Information System (hereinafter called Treasury General Ledger).
29. The Minister of Finance shall use a mechanism of issuing Funds Warrants to control the release of public funds. The types of Funds Warrants issued by the Minister of Finance include:
30. Upon receipt of a funds warrant from the Minister of Finance, a Chief Finance Officer of a spending organization, pursuant to Article 31.2 of the Law, may issue Sub-Allocation Warrants to Finance Officers within his spending organization, including any sub-organizational units under his jurisdiction not previously issued with a funds warrant directly from the Minister of Finance.
31. The Sub-Allocation Warrant authorizes the Finance Officer to spend money covered by appropriation as approved in the annual Budget Law.
32. A Sub-Allocation Warrant may, where necessary, be limited in its authority to spend money to meet the costs of a sub-organization unit by:
33. In addition to the details shown in the example at the end of these Directions, Sub-Allocation Warrants will contain specific instructions to Finance Officers to:
34. All Funds Warrants, including Sub-Allocation Warrants issued by Chief Finance Officers but excluding Development Project Warrants, shall cease on the last day of the fiscal year to which they relate or upon such earlier date notified to Chief Finance Officers by the Minister of Finance in writing.
35. No Finance Officer has the right to deliberately incur or commit any unjustifiable expenditure under the authority of any funds warrant issued to him in anticipation of the cessation of the authority in such warrant.
36. Article 44 of the Law requires that each spending organization is responsible for the internal control of financial transactions within spending units and sub-units under their jurisdiction. Chief Finance Officers should ensure that a dedicated administrative unit responsible for ensuring the execution of the financial tasks described in these Directions is established within their organizations.
37. No moneys shall be spent from the Treasury Consolidated Account unless:
38. A Finance Officer must not undertake a proposal to spend government money unless a Chief Finance Officer sanctions the action.
39. A Chief Finance Officer must not sanction a proposal to spend government money (including a notional payment) unless the he is satisfied, after making such inquiries as appropriate, that the proposed expenditure:
40. If any of the expenditure specified by a spending proposal is expenditure for which an appropriation of money is not authorized by the provisions of an existing law or a proposed law that is before the Parliament, a Chief Finance Officer cannot sanction the proposal unless the Minister of Finance has given written authorization for the expenditure.
41. Approval of a proposal of future spending for which there is no appropriation may only be approved by the issue of a Contingency Warrant under Direction 29.
42. An Finance Officer performing duties in relation to the procurement of material goods or services must have regard to provisions of the Law for Public Procurement, and any regulations, directions and procedures issued related to public procurement.
43. A person must not enter into a contract, agreement or arrangement under which government money is, or may become, payable (including a notional payment as defined in Direction 5 unless a proposal to spend government money for the proposed contract, agreement or arrangement has been approved under Direction 38.
44. A Chief Finance Officer or a person authorized to initiate guarantees must not undertake the giving of a loan guarantee on behalf of the Government that will likely result in a payment from the Treasury Consolidated Account unless:
45. Any spending proposal that will lead directly to the expenditure of government moneys must first be recorded as a commitment of available budget funds.
46. Commitment is represented by a Commitment Authority in the form of a documented action, in a manner approved by the Minister of Finance, that specifically reserves a portion of a spending organization's available budget funds to meet obligations for the payment of government moneys. A Commitment Authority form must be certified and approved by the spending organization's appointed Finance Officers.
47. A Commitment Authority form must be completed in duplicate, the original shall be passed to the Government Treasury for authorization and recording in the Treasury General Ledger, the duplicate copy retained by the spending organization.
48. Commitment Authority is not required for regular or periodic payments, as determined by the Minister of Finance, including government service salaries and allowances.
49. Before certifying that a Commitment Authority is correct a Certifying Officer must be satisfied that:
50. A Certifying Officer is responsible for maintaining a register for all commitment authorities raised by his spending organization. The Commitment Register must include the following information for each payment proposal:
51. Before an Approval Officer approves a Commitment Authority he must be satisfied that:
the spending proposal was generally approved or sanctioned by the Chief Finance Officer;
the commitment is consistent with that proposal and has been duly certified;
the proposal represents the best value for money, or meets a direction by the Government which prevents the best value for money;
there are sufficient allocated funds available in the appropriation item in the annual budget of the Republic of Montenegro to meet the proposed expenditure, after taking into account other expenditure and commitments to be met from the appropriation item.
52. Properly completed certified and approved Commitment Authorities must be passed to the Government Treasury for authorization and recording in the Treasury General Ledger.
53. Spending organizations shall annually review all outstanding commitment to determine those commitments against which payments will be made in the following fiscal year. Commitments that are to be carried over into a following year must be advised to the Government Treasury for recording in the Treasury General Ledger.
54. Under Article 45 of the Law Chief Finance Officers are responsible for the accounting and internal control of expenditure transactions within their jurisdiction. Each step of expenditure control is documented by the use of a properly completed Budget Expenditure and Payment Request form, hereinafter called Payment Request, issued by the Minister of Finance. This form must be used by spending organizations for all expenditure payments made from the Treasury Consolidated Account, unless otherwise directed by the Minister of Finance.
55. The Payment Request form must be completed in duplicate. The original is passed to the Government Treasury for recording in the Treasury General Ledger and processing as a payment order to the servicing bank for payment. The copy is retained at the spending organization for reference and audit purposes, and must be attached to supporting documentation.
56. The Minister of Finance shall issue Directions to take account of the use or adoption of future technologies or improved methodologies in relation to the form, process and manner of conducting financial tasks by spending organizations or the Government Treasury.
57. Following receipt of goods or services a Finance Officer must verify or obtain verification in writing that the service has been performed or goods delivered in accordance with an approved Purchase Order, signed Government Contract, binding agreement or administrative order.
58. Any deviation from the number of items or conditions of the items listed on the Purchase Order, or Government Contract, should be noted in writing. The information provided should contain enough data about the deviation to allow the vendor or supplier invoice to be adjusted for the value of the usable goods received or portion of service provided.
59. Before certifying that a Payment Request may properly be paid, a Certifying Officer must be satisfied that:
60. A Certifying Officer is responsible for maintaining a register for all Payment Requests raised by his spending organization. The register must include the following information for each Payment Request:
61. Before approving a Payment Request an Approving Officer must ensure that:
62. An Approving Officer must not approve payments in excess of the limit of Appropriation set in the annual budget for that spending organization or part of the spending organization, or in excess of the Budget Funds Allocation provided by the Minister of Finance.
63. Before authorizing a request for the payment of government money from a government bank account a Government Treasury Authorizing Officer must ensure that:
64. An Authorizing Officer has the right to request that a spending organization provide supporting documentation for a request for payment where he considers that the control process has not been conducted according to these Directions.
65. An Authorizing Officer has the right to reject or return unprocessed to a spending organization a request for payment that is factually or numerically incorrect.
66. A Journal Transfer is undertaken to change the balances on individual accounting records within the Treasury General Ledger. All Journal Transfers must be certified, approved and authorised by appointed Finance Officers.
67. Chief Finance Officers, using the Journal Transfer form in accordance with instructions of the Minister of Finance, may request changes including:
These changes must result in a zero affect on the overall balance of the Treasury Consolidated Account.
68. The Assistant Minister (Government Treasury) may, in addition, make other changes including recording transactions that have occurred outside of the Treasury General Ledger.
69. Spending organizations must keep a register of invoices received for goods and services. The register should clearly show details of all invoices and the actions relating to these invoices, including date of receipt and payment. The register should also indicate disputed or cancelled invoices.
70. It is desirable that the government meets its obligations within a reasonable period of time in order to maintain its reputation as a reliable payer. Use of a due date payment system also assists the government to manage and make better use of government money. All invoices received by spending organizations for goods and services must be paid by the due date.
71. The standard due date is 30 calendar days from the receipt of an invoice. Due dates later than 30 days shall be permitted only where stipulated by the terms and conditions of a contract or by written approval by the responsible Chief Finance Officer or instruction of the Minister of Finance.
72. Spending organizations that consistently fail to meet the due date payment requirements without providing acceptable reasons shall be subject to scrutiny by the Internal Auditor or referred to the External Auditor for further action.
73. The Minister of Finance has the right to determine that a payment by a spending organization to another spending organization is a notional payment, and the corresponding receipt treated a notional receipt, because the transactions are intra-government.
74. Notional payments and receipts are recorded as actual payments and receipts in the Treasury General Ledger although the transactions have not passed through a government bank account.
75. The Chief Finance Officer is responsible for the collection of revenue and safe-keeping of all Government Moneys for which collection is the responsibility of his organisation.
76. The Chief Finance Officer shall keep, or cause to have kept, records of all revenue under his control.
77. None of the checks prescribed by any of these Directions to be carried out on revenue collection by Finance Officers at a subordinate or other prescribed office shall relieve a Chief Finance Officer of his responsibility for ensuring that all revenue collections made under his control are correctly and promptly brought to account.
78. A Receiver of Government Money shall not accept any other currency than legal tender for Montenegro. He shall not accept defaced or mutilated notes or damaged coins.
79. A Receiver has the right to accept other negotiable instruments, subject to conditions laid down by the Minister of Finance, either generally by Instruction or specifically as the circumstances require.
80. A Receiver shall immediately issue a Government Treasury Receipt, in the prescribed form, for each sum of money paid directly to him for the account of Government.
81. The receipt shall be for the actual amount received.
82. There shall be exhibited, in a prominent position in every place where revenue and government moneys are collected, a notice to the effect that a numbered and signed original official receipt shall be obtained for every sum of money paid to a government official.
83. The form of Government Treasury Receipts and Licences to be used shall be as prescribed, or approved, by the Minister of Finance. Care should be taken that all required entries are completed in full, including the sum of money received and the revenue code to be credited. The entries shall be sufficient to identify the purpose of the payment, the payer and any Debit Note paid. The amount paid shall be entered in words and figures and the receipt signed and dated by the Receiver receiving the money.
84. Where approved by the Minister of Finance, computer generated entries and receipts are acceptable.
85. Except where licences are specially printed for a particular purpose, pre-printed pre-numbered quadruplicate sets of Government Treasury Receipt forms shall be used.
86. When produced manually, the original top copy of the Government Treasury Receipt shall be completed with a black or blue ballpoint pen and carbon paper (or specially carbonized document books) shall be used to produce the other copies. Finance Officers issuing Government Treasury Receipts shall ensure that legible and complete copies have been produced. If not, all other copies shall be cancelled in accordance with Direction 89 and a new set issued.
87. Except where otherwise authorised by the Minister of Finance in writing, the distribution of the first three copies shall be such that the:
88. All Government Treasury Receipts shall be issued in strict consecutive numerical order.
89. No alteration of any kind shall be made to any Government Treasury Receipt or Licence. Where an error is made it shall be cancelled, retained and replaced by a new Government Treasury Receipt or Licence. The spoiled Government Treasury Receipt or Licence shall be cancelled by being endorsed with the word "CANCELLED", together with two diagonal lines on all copies. The other copies shall be disposed of as in Direction 90. The signature of the finance officer responsible for preparing the Government Treasury Receipt or License shall confirm the cancellation.
90. The original copy of all cancelled Government Treasury Receipts and Licences shall be included, in strict numerical sequence, with the duplicate copy of issued Government Treasury Receipts and Licences and shall be attached to the Receiver's Statement described in Direction 91.
91. Every Receiver shall maintain a summary report of all his receipts in the form prescribed by the Minister of Finance, herein referred to as a Receiver's Statement.
92. All summarized receipt entries in the Receiver's Statement shall include the following details:
93. The Receiver's Statement, immediately at the time of banking, shall also include the Total Revenue that is banked which should equal the total amount collected in Direction 92.
94. The Receiver's Statement shall be signed and dated by the Receiver.
95. Before banking collected revenue, each Receiver shall add up the total of receipts issued and balance this total to the total analyzed by General Ledger code and by cash received.
96. He shall ensure that the cash and cheques on hand agrees with the Receiver's Statement total and shall bank this sum in full.
97. Under no circumstances whatsoever shall a Receiver retain any part of revenue that has been collected, receipted and brought to account in his Receiver's Statement.
98. A Receiver shall make good any deficiency under DEM30 (EUR15) in the cash in his charge, or immediately submit a written report to his Chief Finance Officer, with a copy to the Minister of Finance, if the deficiency is over DEM30 (EUR15).
99. The banking of collected revenue shall be in accordance with a timetable and any other instructions issued by the Minister of Finance. However, such a timetable shall not prevent more frequent banking at any time where the level of cash held poses a security problem.
100. A Receiver will pay his collected revenue direct to a bank for deposit to a Government bank account.
101. The Receiver shall prepare a bank deposit slip in triplicate. Bank Deposit slips prepared by Receivers shall show the serial numbers, amounts and drawers of cheques and bank drafts paid in and the serial numbers, amounts drawers and offices of issue of money orders and postal orders, together with any details required by the bank.
102. The original copy shall be retained by the bank or bank agency, the duplicate and triplicate copies being returned to the Receiver at the time of paying in, duly receipted by the bank.
103. The Receiver shall attach the triplicate copy of the deposit slip securely to his Receiver's Statement as evidence of having paid over the collected revenue to the bank or bank agency, unless the triplicate is part of a bound deposit book, in which case it must stay in the book.
104. The Receiver shall attach the duplicate copy of the bank deposit slip to the Treasury when presenting his Receiver's Statement.
105. Immediately after banking, a Receiver shall present his Receiver's Cash Statement, duly balanced, together with his current unused (or partly used) Government Treasury Receipts and Licences, or sufficient proof of correct issue of receipts or licences if produced by a computerized system, duly certified bank paying-in slip to his spending organisation's Certifying Officer.
106. The Certifying Officer will check the accuracy of the Receiver's Statement and will sight and verify all the used, and partly used, Government Treasury Receipts and Licences issued to the Receiver, even if no revenue has been collected since the previous pay over, and certify that:
107. Immediately after certification, the Receiver will submit his Receiver's Statement to a Finance Officer in the Government Treasury.
108. It shall be the responsibility of the receiving Government Treasury Finance Officer to contact any Receiver who fails to submit a Cash Statement on the scheduled day.
109. When a Receiver presents his Receiver's Statement, the receiving Government Treasury Finance Officer shall ensure that a Certifying Officer has certified it.
110. The receiving Government Treasury Finance Officer shall initial and date the Receiver's Statement before it is recorded in the Treasury General Ledger.
111. A receiving Government Treasury Finance Officer shall immediately report to the Assistant Minister (Government Treasury) any suspected irregularities in the presentation of collected revenue, the Receiver's Statement or any other document submitted by the Receiver. The Assistant Minister (Government Treasury), after due investigation, shall, if the irregularity is of a material nature, report the matter in writing immediately to the Minister of Finance, with a copy to theInternal Auditor, External Auditor and the Chief Finance Officer concerned.
112. If the irregularity is less than DEM30 (EUR15), the Receiver shall be given the opportunity to make good any deficit. If he does not do so, the matter shall be reported as in Direction 111. Any surplus shall immediately be brought to account by the issuing of a Government Treasury Receipt.
113. A cash surplus arises when the amount banked by a Receiver is greater than the amount shown in his Receiver's Statement.
114. Any cash surplus shall be fully investigated by the Assistant Minister (Government Treasury) and shall be promptly brought to account against an appropriate Treasury General Ledger code.
115. The Assistant Minister (Government Treasury), if he is satisfied that the original error is only an apparent cash surplus, has the right to authorise, in writing, a refund of the surplus or direct such other action to correct the error.
116. The keeping of private money with Government Moneys is forbidden. Any such money found may be credited to the Treasury Consolidated Account by means of a Government Treasury Receipt to the Treasury General Ledger miscellaneous revenue item and will not be liable to be refunded if not claimed within three months of this action.
117. No collected revenue or government money shall be used for any private purpose whatsoever.
118. Receivers or other Finance Officers shall not lend or advance, for any purpose, collected revenue or other government money for which they are accountable to Government.
119. Revenue collected shall be paid into the Treasury Consolidated Account and must not be used to pay directly for Government expenditure.
120. Wherever mail is received a Finance Officer shall keep a Revenue Register. All revenue received, in whatever form, through the post or otherwise than to a Receiver shall be entered in the Register. The Register shall be in columnar form and show the following detail:
121. The post-opening officer to his Chief Finance Officer shall report any revenue not receipted within 24 hours, in writing.
122. Two officers shall always be present when mail is opened. In the event of two officers not being available, opening of the mail will be delayed until a second officer is present.
123. The Revenue Register shall not be kept by the same officer responsible for issuing Government Treasury Receipts.
124. An officer who is not an appointed Receiver shall not, under any circumstances, accept Government revenue from anyone, for any reason. Any person tendering revenue shall be directed to the nearest Receiver or the Government Treasury.
125. Where an officer who is not an appointed Receiver receives revenue through the mail, he shall ensure that Direction 120 is complied with.
126. A licence shall not be deemed to have been renewed until a validated bank receipt or some other evidence indicating payment directly to the nominated Government bank account has been received by the Receiver or the Receiver is in possession of the cash, cheque, bank draft, money order, etc, tendered in payment for the licence.
127. An issued or renewed licence shall be considered void if any cheque, bank draft or other negotiable instrument is subsequently dishonoured by any bank.
128. Where a Government Treasury Receipt or Licence has been issued to, and subsequently lost by the payer, the payer has the right to make application for a duplicate Government Treasury Receipt or Licence to be issued to him. Such a duplicate shall not be issued by means of a new original, but by issuing a photocopy of the triplicate copy of the original issue, held in the original office of issue. Such copies shall be legibly endorsed, in ink, with the words "Certified True Copy" and countersigned and dated by the responsible Finance Officer. A note shall be made on the retained triplicate copy that a photocopy has been issued. Special printed licences may be reprinted provided that records of the system that produces the licences clearly show that the original has been cancelled and replaced. A charge for the replacement shall be made at a level specified by the Minister of Finance by Instruction.
129. Revenue due to Government for services should be paid at the time that the service is rendered, goods supplied, licence issued, etc. If this does not take place, a Debit Note will be issued.
130. Debit Notes, shall be in the form prescribed by the Minister of Finance.
131. The issue of Debit Notes for:
is specifically authorised by these Directions. All other cases must be referred to the Minister of Finance for written authorisation to issue Debit Notes.
132. It is the responsibility of the Chief Finance Officer to ensure that revenue is collected when due and to take all necessary steps to avoid revenue falling into arrears.
133. A Debit Note shall not be issued to any person or organisation listed by the Minister of Finance as unsuitable for credit facilities.
134. The Receiver shall maintain a Debit Note Register, in a form prescribed by the Minister of Finance, in which shall be recorded full details of all assessments, rents, dues, fees, charges, sale of Government property and other items of Government Revenue that have been charged to individuals or organisations by the issue of Debit Notes.
135. Debit Note Registers shall be divided into such sections as shall allow for the adequate analysis of the type of revenue for which the Chief Finance Officer is responsible. Each section shall contain the following detail, line by line, in columns:
136. The detail required in Direction 135, (a) to (g) inclusive should be entered in the Debit Note Register before the Debit Note is issued. Item (h) shall be obtained at the time the Debit Note is delivered and (i) to (l) entered as the particular event occurs.
137. Debit Notes shall be issued in triplicate.
138. The original copy of the Debit Notes shall be printed, typed or completed with a black or blue ballpoint pen. Carbon paper will be used to produce two copies (unless special carbonated paper is used). Officers preparing Debit Notes shall ensure that legible and complete copies have been produced before dispatching the original copy.
139. Except as otherwise authorised by the Minister of Finance in writing, distribution of the three copies of the Debit Notes shall be as follows:
140. When dispatching the original copy of the Debit Note any written instructions from the recipient as regards the address to which the Debit Note shall be sent must be followed. The Receiver shall maintain such instructions in a suitable file.
141. Debit Notes shall contain full details, so as to enable the recipients to easily identify the service rendered or goods received.
142. The Debit Note shall state that payment must be made within 30 days.
143. Alteration of any kind cannot be made to any entry on a Debit Note. Where an error has been made the Debit Note shall not be issued, but shall be replaced by a new Debit Note. All three copies of the spoilt Debit Note shall be endorsed with the words "CANCELLED" together with two diagonal lines ruled across each copy and the signature of the officer responsible for preparing the Debit Note.
144. The Original and Triplicate copies of cancelled Debit Notes shall remain at the original office of issue, either within the bound Debit Note book or within a suitable file.
145. The Certifying Officer shall sight the Duplicate copy of a cancelled Debit Note as part of his regular checking of the Receiver's supporting documentation.
146. All Debit Notes shall be checked and signed by the Certifying Officer prior to delivery.
147. Any Debit Note considered by the Certifying Officer to be incorrect, unnecessary or illegible shall be returned to the Receiver.
148. Wherever possible, Debit Notes shall be delivered by safe hand direct to the person or organisation responsible for payment. Where devery by hand is not possible, Debit Notes may be sent through the post. The date of delivery or posting will be recorded in the Debit Note Register.
149. Unless otherwise directed by their Chief Finance Officers, Receivers are responsible for the calculation of all assessments , rents, dues and other charges leading to the issue of Debit Notes in respect of revenue due to the Government.
150. Chief Finance Officers are responsible for ensuring that Debit Notes are settled and the revenue therefrom collected within the 30 days allowed. Chief Finance Officers shall check their Debit Note Registers at least monthly, in order to ascertain those Debit Notes still unpaid and to ensure that appropriate follow up action is being taken and noted in the "Notes" column of the Debit Note Register.
151. A Receiver shall make due note of any circumstances that give him cause to suspect that a Debit Note may not be settled and notify the Ministry of Finance accordingly.
152. Where a Debit Note is not settled and the revenue collected by the due date, the Receiver shall immediately pursue the follow up action prescribed in Direction 153 or 154 as appropriate.
153. Where an unpaid Debit Note was originally issued to any person in receipt of a Government salary or other payment, the follow up action shall be as follows:
154. Whilst the Receiver shall be responsible for obtaining the Authority for Deduction, he shall take care not to contravene any Law or Direction, particularly relating to the maximum deduction permissible. In cases of doubt, the Receiver shall seek the written authority or advice of the Chief Finance Officer prior to obtaining the authority.
155. Where such an authority becomes necessary, or is refused by the debtor, the Minister of Finance shall direct that no further credit facilities will be allowed to the person in default.
156. Where an unpaid Debit Note was originally issued to any person or organisation not in receipt of a Government salary or other payment the follow up action shall be as follows:
157. The Chief Finance Officer, if he considers that unpaid moneys cannot be recovered by his organisation, must refer the matter to the Minister of Finance.
158. If a debt is not settled satisfactorily, the Minister of Finance has the right to direct that no further credit facilities will be allowed to the person or organisation in default.
159. Where the defaulting debtor has sums payable to him by Government, the Minister of Finance has the right to direct that such payment be withheld, in such amount and for such time as he considers necessary, until the debt outstanding to Government is settled.
160. Where a Chief Finance Officer is of the opinion that actions taken under Directions 152 to 159 will not be, or have not been, successful in recovering a debt, he should forward a full written report to the Minister for Finance, copied to the External Auditor, recommending either write-off or consideration of legal action. The report should set out his reasons for so recommending and a full statement of the recovery action taken. The Minister of Finance shall issue written instructions, in due course, as to whether the debt is to be written off or whether further attempts at recovery of the debt, including, but not limited to, legal action, should be made.
161. The fact that a debt has been formally written off shall not prevent future attempts at recovery if circumstances change.
162. Where a Chief Finance Officer is of the opinion that there is a reasonable possibility of recovering a debt through legal action, and the Minister of Finance agrees, he shall submit a detailed written report on the debt to the Government Attorney, through the Minister of Finance, with a copy to the External Auditor. The report shall contain full details of any action taken to recover the debt.
163. Where a debit note is referred to the Government Attorney , suspension of credit facilities shall be automatic.
164. It shall be the responsibility of the Receiver to follow up all cases of unpaid Debit Notes referred to the Government Attorney and subsequently taken to court. The Chief Finance Officer shall take all such action as shall be available to him to ensure that any Court Orders obtained are put into effect. He shall take care that he does not take any action that shall contravene or hinder the content of any Court Order.
165. Treasury Security Documents shall comprise all Government Treasury Receipts, Debit Notes, Licences and any other document so designated by the Minister of Finance.
166. Treasury Security Documents shall be by the Minister of Finance, who shall be responsible for their safe custody, registration and control. The Minister of Finance shall be responsible for ensuring that all new supplies of Security Documents are recorded in a Treasury Security Documents Register and that all subsequent issues of the Documents are also recorded promptly in the Register.
167. Only the Minister of Finance is authorised to order new supplies of Treasury Security Documents, such orders to be placed through in accordance with procurement procedures.
168. It shall be the Minister of Finance's responsibility to ensure that adequate stocks of Treasury Security Documents are maintained at all times and that sufficient lead time is allowed for the placing of orders, printing, shipping, clearance formalities and the receipt of new supplies.
169. No order shall be raised for any Treasury Security Document until a review has been carried out to establish if any changes to it are needed.
170. All Security Documents will be pre-numbered.
171. All changes to Treasury Security Documents shall be personally authorised, in writing, by the Minister of Finance.
172. The Assistant Minister (Government Treasury) is responsible for ensuring that there is a sound system for checking the delivery of Treasury Security Documents against those ordered, the registration and security of all such documents.
173. The Minister of Finance shall only issue books of Government Treasury Receipts, Debit Notes, Licences and other Security Documents to those officers having need of such documents and shall ensure that previous books issued to the officers have been used almost completely before issuing further supplies.
174. Government officers who can shall obtain new supplies of Security Documents by personal attendance at the requisite office and shall sign the Register as receiving officer at the time of issue.
175. Government officers who cannot make a personal attendance shall make a written application for new supplies of Treasury Security Documents. New supplies of Security Documents to officers outside Podgorica shall be sent by safe hand of a responsible officer wherever possible, or by registered post, accompanied by a covering letter referring to the original application for the documents. Officers not collecting Treasury Security Documents in person shall acknowledge receipt of all new supplies of Treasury Security Documents, quoting the serial numbers of the documents received, immediately. The acknowledgment shall be noted in the Treasury Security Documents Register and shall be accepted in place of signature of the receiving officers in the Register.
176. Any Security Documents found to be defective in any way shall be returned to the issuing officer immediately such a defect is discovered. However, should such a defect not be discovered until the book has been partially used, the book shall not be returned to the issuing officer but shall be retained by the receiving officer together with all other exhausted books. All unused pages of the defective book shall be endorsed "CANCELLED" and signed by the holding officer, who shall advise the issuing officer of such action together with full details of the discovered defects.
177. Every Finance Officer, having in his charge Security Documents, shall maintain a suitable Treasury Security Document Register to record all documents issued to him. Such record shall show the date of receipt into his charge, the first and last serial number of each book received and the dates when the first and last document in each book was used to collect revenue.
178. Except when handing over to an officer relieving him, a Finance Officer shall not transfer any security document to another officer.
179. When handing over takes place between two Finance Officers, and security documents are in the charge of the handing over officer, the handing over certificate, to be signed by both officers, shall contain full details of the quantities and the serial numbers of each type of Security Document on charge. The taking over officer shall sign immediately below the last entry in the requisite Treasury Security Document Register. Such signature shall be evidence that the taking over officer has checked and has agreed the stock of security documents on hand.
180. No alteration shall be made to the pre-printed format of any Security Document except as allowed in Direction 181.
181. Where the Minister of Finance authorises a change in the pre-printed format of any Security Document, the Minister of Finance shall (if necessary), pending the receipt of supplies of the newly printed documents, authorise, in writing, the suitable alteration to the Security Documents already in use. The officer responsible for the completion of the document shall initial any such alteration.
182. The Chief Finance Officer shall ensure that all security documents are safeguarded against theft, loss or misuse.
183. The loss of any unused security document shall be reported to the Minister of Finance and to the responsible Chief Finance Officer immediately. A full written report of the circumstances surrounding such loss shall be submitted to the Minister of Finance as soon as possible, copies being forwarded to the Assistant Minister (Government Treasury) and the External Auditor.
184. Copies of security documents shall be destroyed only in accordance with these Directions.
185. Obsolete unused Security Documents shall be returned to the Minister of Finance who will arrange for their destruction, after first notifying the External Auditor who will attend their destruction if he so desires. A destruction certificate, as prescribed by the Minister of Finance shall be completed and signed by the two officers delegated to carry out the destruction. The destruction certificates shall detail the serial numbers of all documents destroyed. A copy of the destruction certificate shall be forwarded to the External Auditor, a further copy being placed in the Register of Disposed or Destroyed Security Documents.
186. For the purposes of security, "cash" shall be defined as all currency, postage stamps, cheques, bank drafts, money orders, postal orders and other negotiable instruments.
187. Any Finance Officer, having cash under his control, must not use such cash for any personal purpose or lend or borrow it.
188. Each cash holding, with the exception of the holding referred to in Direction 189, shall at any one time, be in the sole charge of only one Finance Officer who shall be directly responsible for its safe custody, shall have sole access to it and shall have a separate facility for its safe storage.
189. Where a cash holding is normally stored in a strong room or a safe which has two or more independently operated locks, the keys shall be in the charge of at least two Finance Officers who shall be individually responsible for the safe custody of such keys at all times. They shall have joint access to the strong room or safe only and shall be subject to such detailed security instructions as shall be prescribed by the Chief Finance Officer in writing.
190. It is the responsibility of Chief Finance Officers to ensure that adequate Safe Custody Facilities are provided to those officers under their control who shall, through the course of their duties, be accountable for any cash.
191. It shall further be the responsibility of Chief Finance Officers to ensure that all due precautions are taken to prevent the loss or theft of such cash. Chief Finance Officers shall give written instructions to their staff on such precautions.
192. All cash in the custody of Finance Officers shall, at all times, be kept in one of the following:
193. There shall be located in offices dealing with amounts of cash, as determined by the Minister of Finance, a strong room or one or more separate large safes for the safe custody of the main cash stock or reserve cash stocks.
194. Any cash that is found in Safe Custody Facilities that cannot be accounted for, shall be considered as accruing to the Government and shall be credited to miscellaneous revenue. The Receiver bringing the item to account shall make a note of the action on the Government Treasury Receipt. If, in due course, the ownership of such cash shall be satisfactorily established as being other than Government, the matter shall be reported in writing to the Minister of Finance who, if he is satisfied as to the facts, has the right to authorise a refund of the cash.
195. A Finance Officer in possession of a key to a strong room, safe, cash box or drawer shall take all possible precautions against loss or theft of the key at all times. Under no circumstances, except officially handing over to a replacement officer, shall he hand the key to any other person.
196. If a Finance Officer loses a key to a strong room door, safe, cash box or any other lockable drawer or cabinet used for the safe custody of cash, he shall report the matter immediately to his Chief Finance Officer.
197. If a Finance Officer suspects that any key in his possession, or any lock of a strong room door, safe or cash box under his control, has been interfered with, he shall take action immediately as in the case of lost keys.
198. Where a Finance Officer, having responsibility for a key is temporarily absent from his place of duty, such absence not requiring official hand over procedures, the key shall stay with the responsible officer for the period of absence and no revenue shall be accepted until his return.
199. When an official handing over takes place between two Finance Officers who are in possession of cash or who are responsible for the keys under their control, the handing over certificate shall be signed by both officers and shall contain full details of such cash and keys.
200. With regard to Direction 189, under no circumstances shall a hand over take place that would cause all the keys to a strong room or reserve safe to come under the sole control of one Finance Officer.
201. Where an official handing over should have taken place but cannot (e.g. due to sudden serious illness, death, disappearance, etc) the Chief Finance Officer shall arrange a "Cash Count" in front of witnesses and establish any surplus or shortfall.
202. Cash in transit shall always be in the charge of a responsible Finance Officer and carried in a suitable locked container. The officer shall carry any key to such container separately.
203. When cash is being taken to the bank the Finance Officer shall take all due precautions for the prevention of loss or theft of the cash. He shall not undertake any other tasks until after the cash has been deposited at the bank. Where the amount to be deposited exceeds a level determined by the Minister of Finance another member of the office staff shall accompany the Finance Officer to the bank.
204. Where a separate cash office is maintained, normal access must be limited to the appropriate Finance Officers only. The door to such an office must be kept locked at all times when cash collection or handling is taking place.
205. It is the duty of all Finance Officers to report to his Chief Finance Officer, without delay, any incident of loss, shortage, theft or other irregularity in any cash holding under his control unless the shortage is less than DEM30 (EUR15), is caused by negligence and has been made good.
206. It is the duty of every government officer to bring to the attention of his Chief Finance Officer, without delay, any circumstances that cause him to believe that there is a suspected loss, shortage, irregularity, fraud or theft of any government money.
207. Upon receipt of any report of any potential loss of government money, the Chief Finance Officer must arrange independent:
208. If the error is not remedied, and is considered to be recoverable from the responsible officer, the Chief Finance Officer shall have the shortage brought into account by reporting to the Assistant Minister (Government Treasury), who will record it in the General Ledger in the name of the responsible officer and arrange recovery.
209. Where a discrepancy is discovered in the receipt of a postal remittance, the Chief Finance Officer shall arrange for a further count of the remittance, in the presence of the two receiving officers.
210. After investigation the Chief Finance Officer shall report the reasons for all discrepancies or losses of government money to the Assistant Minister (Internal Audit).
211. Upon receipt of a report of loss of government money under DEM1000 (EUR500), the Assistant Minister (Internal Audit), shall:
212. Where the loss is not remedied, and is over DEM1000 (EUR500), the Assistant Minister (Internal Audit), must make an immediate report to the Minister of Finance.
213. The Chief Finance Officer should investigate any other alleged misuse of government money.
214. Where the Chief Finance Officer is unwilling or unable to undertake such investigation himself, he should request an investigation by the Assistant Minister (Internal Audit).
215. Any Finance Officer has the right to report directly to the Assistant Minister (Internal Audit) when he considers it in the public interest so to do. The Assistant Minister (Internal Audit) will treat all such reports in strictest confidence.
216. If the sum lost exceeds DEM1000 (EUR500) or involves a serious misuse of government money, the Minister of Finance will summon a Board of Enquiry.
217. A Board of Enquiry shall consist of three members appointed by the Minister of Finance. One member will normally be the Assistant Minister (Government Treasury), who should be appointed president.
218. The Minister of Finance may appoint government officials who are Section Chiefs or more senior officers as the other members of the Board with the exception set out in Direction 219.
219. No officer employed in the spending unit involved or from the External Audit may be nominated to a Board of Enquiry.
220.The Minister of Finance shall advise the members of the Board of Enquiry of their nomination as soon as possible and shall specify the time and place at which the Board will convene for its first meeting.
221. The Board of Enquiry shall make all necessary independent investigations into the circumstances of the loss or misuse. It shall examine all previous reports, statements and other documents and shall interview such officers as it considers necessary, except that it shall have regard to Direction 222.
222. Where there is a likelihood that criminal proceedings will be brought against an officer in any way connected with the loss, the Board of Enquiry shall not interview that officer.
223. Upon request by the Chief of Police, any member of the Board of Enquiry having specialist financial knowledge may be co-opted by the Police to assist in consideration of the technical aspects of the case and/or interviewing the officer.
224. Upon conclusion of its investigation, the Board of Enquiry will forward a comprehensive written report to the Minister of Finance as quickly as possible.
225. The Board will include in its report its conclusions as to:
226. The Board shall include in its report recommendations, where appropriate, as to:
227. The report shall be signed by all members of the Board of Enquiry and submitted under confidential cover to the Minister of Finance, with a copy to the External Auditor. No other copies may be distributed at this stage without the specific written authority of the Minister of Finance.
228. Acting upon the conclusions of the Board of Enquiry in the case of loss, the Minister of Finance will decide:
229. The Minister of Finance shall, if such action has not already taken place, propose to the responsible Chief Finance Officer whether disciplinary action shall be taken against the officer.
230. In the case of very serious misuse of government money, the Minister of Finance shall consider any further action required, including a confidential report to the Prime Minister.
231. All government bank accounts shall be opened as prescribed by Article 12 of the Law.
232. All government money shall be deposited to a government account and all payments of government money shall be paid out of a government bank account.
233. A government bank account shall not be opened without the written approval of the Minister of Finance.
234. In accordance with Article 13 of the Law the Minister of Finance shall enter into an agreement with the Central Bank for the supply of banking services on behalf of the Government.
235. Where the Central Bank cannot provide specific banking services the Minister may enter into an agreement with an alternative bank resident in Montenegro to provide such services. The process to provide such services is to be conducted in compliance with the Public Procurement Law. The Minister shall seek advice from the Central Bank on the suitability and reliability of proposed banks. The acceptance of an offer of such services does not permit the Minister to transfer existing banking service from the Central Bank to another bank.
236. The Minister of Finance will issue the order for opening of a main Government bank account representing the Treasury Consolidated Account. This bank account will be used for the deposit and payment of government money for all spending organizations. The Minister has the right to issue orders to open additional Government bank accounts if he considers that such accounts are necessary for the efficient and effective conduct of programs and services.
237. Where necessary the Minister will advise Chief Finance Officers by Instruction of changes to general banking policy and any special arrangements or agreements with banks for the supply of Government banking services.
238. If a Chief Finance Officer has a special need for a government bank account he shall forward a request in writing to the Minister of Finance. The request shall include the following:
239. The Minister of Finance will approve or reject a request for the opening of a government bank account in writing, and provide instructions on the operation of the approved account, including:
240. New government bank accounts will not be opened for any spending organization if suitable banking facilities already exist which are considered by the Minister of Finance sufficient for the purposes of that spending organization.
241. Deposits to a bank to the credit of a government bank account shall be made by the Finance Officer responsible for the operation of the account.
242. Deposits made to government bank accounts as transfers through the banking system, including moneys from banks outside the State, must be treated in a similar manner as revenue paid directly to Finance Officers described in Section V of these Directions. In particular the Receiver must ensure that:
243. The Finance Officer responsible for the operation of a government bank account must obtain bank account statements at least monthly, or more frequently if so prescribed by the Minister of Finance.
244. On the receipt of a bank statement the Finance Officer shall prepare a bank reconciliation statement, in a manner prescribed by the Minister of Finance, for each government bank account under his responsibility. The reconciliation shall reconcile the bank account to accounting records, and identify and list individual transactional discrepancies between the bank account and those records. Identified discrepancies must be resolved by bank adjustment, raising a Government Treasury Receipt or a journal transfer in the Treasury General Ledger, or some other procedure approved by the Minister of Finance as necessary.
245. Chief Finance Offices will be responsible for ensuring that their government bank accounts are correctly maintained and that bank account balances always remain in credit. Chief Finance Officers shall inform the Minister of Finance of discrepancies or errors relating to government bank accounts that cannot be resolved within 30 days of occurrence.
246. An officer responsible for the operation of a government bank account will obtain a certificate of balances from the bank:
247. Where a Chief Finance Officer no longer has need for a Government Bank Account, he shall forward a written request to the Minister of Finance to close the account.
248. The Minister of Finance will periodically review existing Government bank accounts and arrange for the closure of accounts that are considered unnecessary, invalid or inactive. The Minister of Finance will issue orders to close bank accounts existing at the time of enactment of these Directions unless he has received a request from a Chief Finance Officer under Direction 238.
249. The Minister of Finance shall ensure the proper management of the Government's cash resource.
250. Cash management will include, but will not be limited to:
251. For the purpose of these Directions, the term "salaries" shall mean all salaries, overtime, allowances and other payments paid to officers and other employees of the Government.
252. The entitlement to salaries by employees of the Government shall be as prescribed by legislation, regulation or instruction.
253. Only the Government Treasury shall make the regular periodic payment of salaries under a centralized system that may be prescribed by these Directions or any other instruction issued by the Minister of Finance.
254. Payment of salaries will normally be made by a direct credit to the officer's bank account by the Government Treasury at the end of each month or as determined by the Minister of Finance.
255. No final salary, or other payment shall be paid without an exhaustive check being made for amounts owed to the Government by the officer that shall, as far as possible, be recovered before payment is made.
256. All Chief Finance Officers will submit to the Minister of Finance Nominal Rolls, signed by the Certifying Officer, of all officers employed in their government organization and whose salaries are to be paid by Government. The Nominal Roll will be prepared in such form and by such date as prescribed by the Minister of Finance, but shall contain, as a minimum, the following details for each officer:
257. Such Nominal Rolls will form the basis of the following year's Salary Budget, as updated for any incremental progression, any agreed new staff within the Ministry, and any agreed filling of vacant posts. The updating is the responsibility of the Chief Finance Officer concerned.
258. The Minister of Finance will arrange for the preparation of monthly salary payrolls in respect of all officers in such a format as he prescribes. This format must include a detailed pay slip for each officer and details of total pay for each spending organization. The pay slip must give full details of the officer's gross pay and allowances for the month, all deductions made from gross pay, the net pay finally due to the officer and any other detail that may be considered necessary.
259. As soon as possible after processing by the Government Treasury Chief Finance Officers will receive a copy of the payroll together with the individual pay slips and shall ensure that individual pay slips are handed to Government Officers .
260. The Government Treasury shall make deductions from gross salaries in respect of tax and shall cause such deductions to be recorded as Government Revenue.
261. The Government Treasury shall make such deductions from gross salaries respect of Pension Fund and other funds contributions and shall pay these to the relevant fund on the due date.
262. The Government Treasury may make deductions from gross salaries in respect of the rental of any Government house or quarter allotted, or any other use of Government assets.
263. The Government Treasury may make any other deduction from gross salaries due to Government and credit the amount to the appropriate item in the Treasury General Ledger.
264. The Assistant Minister (Government Treasury) will issue an instruction at the beginning of the financial year setting out what reports he requires from the Treasury General Ledger, or from spending organizations as necessary.
265. An analysis of Receipts and Payments on the main bank account, together with a bank reconciliation statement, shall be forwarded to the Minister of Finance on a weekly basis.
266. The Minister of Finance has the right to direct spending organizations to follow internationally recognized accounting standards in the preparation of financial reports.
267. Throughout the fiscal year the Minister of Finance shall periodically report to the Cabinet, Parliament, and the public, including:
268. The Assistant Minister (Government Treasury) will issue an Instruction no later than 15 November in each financial year detailing the requirements for closing the Treasury General Ledger and producing final accounts of spending organizations. The final accounts Instruction will include a timetable for the acceptance of final Treasury General Ledger transactions and any necessary repayment or final reimbursement of current Advance advances.
269. Following the closure of the annual General Ledger accounts, and within the period set by the Assistant Minister (Government Treasury) under Direction 268, Chief Finance Officers will compare their accounting records with the records in the Treasury General Ledger and notify the Government Treasury of necessary corrections.
270. Chief Finance Officers will ensure that they receive, from all sub-units, final statements of inflows and outflows by the 1st of March each year. Chief Finance Officers will submit consolidated ledger accounts for their spending units to the Assistant Minister (Government Treasury) by 31st March each year.
271. The Minister of Finance, pursuant to Articles 49 to 51 of the Law, shall produce the Final Annual Statement of Accounts of the Government Budget. The Minister shall forward the draft Final Annual Statement of Ledger Accounts to the Cabinet by the 15th May each year. The Cabinet shall agree the Final Annual Statement of Accounts by 31st May and forward it to the External Auditor. The Final Statement of Accounts, together with the certificate of the External Auditor, shall be submitted to Parliament by 31st July.
272. The Minister of Finance shall issue separate instructions to the Chief Finance Officers or equivalents of extra-budgetary funds, municipalities and government enterprises regarding the detail and format of final statements for contribution to and consolidation of a whole-of-government Annual Statement of Accounts.
273. It is the responsibility of each Chief Finance Officer to keep such records as prescribed by the Minister of Finance, including documents, registers, books, paper reports and electronic media, relating to financial tasks and activities, and to make such records available for inspection by the Assistant Minister (Internal Audit) and the External Auditor on request.
274. As prescribed by Article 39 of the Law the Government sets the limit on debt in the annual Law on Government Budget.
275. The Minister of Finance with Article 41 of the Law will define the forms of borrowings and insuring of loan repayments that are approved by Cabinet.
276. Under Article 41 of the Law the Minister of Finance represents the Cabinet in regard to all loan contracts and in consultations with the Central Bank.
277. Pursuant to Article 43 of the Law all debt payments for which the Government is liable shall be paid from the Treasury Consolidated Account. All receipts to Government from lent funds shall be deposited to the Treasury Consolidated Account.
278. Under the provisions of a Law or resolution of Parliament, the Government has the right to borrow money. The Minister of Finance shall issue written instructions to the Assistant Minister (Government Treasury) or the equivalent officer in a municipality, as to the conditions required for securing or disbursing of loans.
279. Acting on these instructions the appropriate officer will, in co-ordination with the Central Bank, conduct negotiations with potential lenders to draw up a draft loan proposal. The Minister of Finance, with the recipient of the loan (if other than the Government), will examine this draft loan proposal and co-ordinate any necessary re-drafting. The final draft proposal will form the basis of the loan agreement that will be presented for approval to Cabinet.
280. The loan agreement shall include the relationship between the creditor and the Government as well as that between the Government and the recipient of funds if appropriate.
281. Short-term loans for the purposes of liquidity, under Article 17.4 of the Law, must not be issued for a term greater than six months and must be matured and repaid by the end of the term. Any balance of short term liquidity loans remaining unpaid at the end of the fiscal year must be shown in the Final Accounts of the Government Budget for that year, and included in the debt repayment appropriation and debt limit set by the annual Law on Government Budget for the following year.
282. The Minister of Finance will ensure that both domestic and foreign loans are recorded using a suitable debt management system.
283. Full details of the loan agreement including amortization schedules, interest payments, service fees and other such items shall be entered into the debt management system controlled by the Assistant Minister (Government Treasury).
284. All payments to or by Government on the servicing of loans shall be recorded in the debt management system at monthly periods throughout the life of the loan.
285. At least each quarter a report on the position of the government debt shall be provided to the Minister of Finance.
286. Any late or unserviceable repayments must be reported to the Minister of Finance immediately. The Minister shall inform the Cabinet immediately if loan repayments are in arrears or are likely to become arrears. The Minister shall take appropriate action to ensure that the due payment is made.
287. The forecasting facility within the debt management system shall be used to assist in the projection of revenue and expenditure estimates for preparation of the following year's recurrent budget.
288. Pursuant to Article 43 of the Law permanent provision shall be made in the government debt appropriation item within the current expenditure section of the annual law on Government