Template for drafting a treasury law

Template for drafting a treasury law

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  TEMPLATE FOR DRAFTINGA TREASURY LAW including Single Treasury Account, Sub-national levels and Municipalities Jean-Marc Lepain Public Finance Specialist 1. General Provisions Reference to previous legislation – Purpose and scope of the law – Validity – Entry into force – Interpretation –Definition – Treasury mission and responsibilities – Secondary Legislation / Regulation – Amendment of the law 2. Appointment and Responsibility of the Treasury Officers, Delegation of Powers Appointment and responsibilities of the Treasury General Director – Appointment and responsibilities of other treasury officers at the national level - Appointment and responsibilities of other treasury officers at the sub-national level – Investigation of alleged misconduct – Criminal proceedings and penalties for misuse of public money 3. Organization set-up Organizational set-up between the national and sub-national level, central treasury/provincial treasury, treasury/revenue organization 4. Public Money Definition of public money – Receipt of public money and the Treasury Single Account– Expenditure of public money – Immunity of public money and TSA – Investment of public money and use of the interests – Special funds - Earmarked Receipt Accounts
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  5. Functioning ofthe Treasury Single Account Ownership by the Treasury of the TSA – Responsibility of the Central Bank in maintaining the TSA – Service Contract with the Central Bank - TSA sub-account at the provincial level – Transfers and grants - Government overdraft (the law may or may not allow Government overdraft) -Transitional provisions until the TSA is established and operational 6. The Treasury General Ledger System Responsibility for accounting principles - Accounting methodology - Maintenance of the Chart of Account – Relation of the Chart of Account with Budget Classification – Maintenance of a General Leger by Budget Institutions – Reconciliation of Budget Institutions’ ledgers with the Treasury General Leger System - 7. Bank Account Opening and closure of bank account inside and outside of the country. Duties of the bank account in forwarding to the Treasury balance and account statement. Duty of the Director General of the Treasury in maintaining the list of all official bank accounts inside the country and abroad and in reporting to the Minister of Finance and other authorities balances and transactions – Deposit in foreign institutions of sums in foreign currencies 8. Revenue Centralization and Collection of Public Monies Centralization of all state revenues on the TSA – Respective responsibility of the Treasury and the revenue authorities in collecting taxes and government monies –issue of receipt for public monies – Maintenance by the Treasury of Debit Note Register at the national and sub-national level. Responsibilities for cash holdings- 9. Budget Execution and Payments Commitment of public money and processing- Responsibility of the Treasury on checking appropriation and commitment before payment - Definition of payment procedures and payment warrants – Implementation of the centralized public service payroll – Relation of the present law with the procurement law –
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  10. Government Borrowingand Lending Authorization for borrowing and lending – Loans by the State – Recording of loans – Monitoring of loans and debt forecasting – restructuring and restructuration of loans made by Government entities- Comments: Article 62 of the Budget Law already covers ”Management of Foreign Debts” and Article 63 “Borrowing”. 11. Issuance of Guarantees by the State Only the Ministry of Finance through its Treasury can issue state guarantees. 12. Management of losses and claims Claims against the State through acts or omissions – Claims by the State against other persons – Claims by official against the State – Losses or damages though criminal acts or omissions – Losses and omissions through vis major or other unavoidable causes – Recovery of losses and damages 13. Reporting and Financial Records Expenditure report – use of Treasury data by other department of the Ministry of Finance – Final Annual Statement – Availability of records for audits 14. Internal Control of Treasury and of other Budget Institutions and Audit Responsibilities of the Chief Internal Auditor - Internal Audit – Independent Audit – Audit of budget institutions 15. Application of the law to sub-national level and municipalities Treasury and sub-national revenue, budget execution at sub-national and municipal level expenditure assignment, sub-national borrowing and lending, limits on municipal borrowing 16. Miscellaneous
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  Precious metals, gemsand precious stones - Disposal of properties found – Money and properties held in trust – Gifts, donations and sponsorship