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 Public Finance Management Amendment Act 2015

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rangement of Provisions

1. Short title and commencement 2. General amendments 3. Section 5 amended
4. Section 17 amended
5. Section 19 amended
6. Section 20 amended
7. New section 78A inserted
8. New Part XIA inserted
9. Section 107 amended
10. Section 108 substituted
11. Section 110 amended
12. Schedule 5 substituted

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2015, No. 9

AN ACT to amend the Public Finance Management Act 2001
(“principal Act”). [27th
March 2015]

BE IT ENACTED by the Legislative Assembly of Samoa in
Parliament assembled as follows:

1. Short title and commencement-(1) This Act may be cited as
the Public Finance Management Amendment Act 2015.
(2) This Act commences on the date of assent by the Head of
State but sections 6 to 10 commence on 1 July 2014.

2. General amendments - For the principal Act, for “statement of
economic strategy” substitute “Strategy for the Development of
Samoa”, and capitalise the letters “s” and “d” for the terms “strategy”
and “development”, wherever they occur in the principal Act.

3. Section 5 amended - For Section 5 of the principal Act:
(a) in paragraph (b), after “activities of all” insert “sectors,”;
(b) in paragraph (g), for the full stop, substitute “; and”; and



2 Public Finance Management Amendment 2015, No. 9

(c) after paragraph (g) insert:

“(h) planning, management and utilisation of development
cooperation activities and resources.”.

4. Section 17 amended - For Section 17 of the principal Act:
(a) in subsection (1), for “31 May of the year that that
statement becomes effective” substitute “30 September
of the financial year that that strategy becomes
effective”; and
(b) after subsection (3) insert:

“(4) In this section, “financial year” means the period of 12
months ending on 30 June.”.

5. Section 19 amended - In section 19(2)(d) of the principal Act,
for “specified in the economic” substitute “specified in the Strategy
for the Development of Samoa”.

6. Section 20 amended - In Section 20(1) of the principal Act, for
“half way through” and “statement of economic strategy update”
substitute “six (6) months after the mid-term of” and “Strategy for the
Development of Samoa Review”, respectively.

7. New section 78A inserted - After section 78 of the principal
Act, insert:

“78A. Purposes for State borrowing-(1) The Minister may
borrow for any of the following purposes:
(a) to finance any deficit in the approved budget of the
State;
(b) to maintain a cash balance at a level or range
determined by the Minister;
(c) to lend money in accordance with the Act;
(d) to honour obligations under outstanding State
guarantees;
(e) to refinance outstanding State debt, including
repayment of a loan prior to its maturity date, and
repurchase of State debt securities;
(f) to immediately protect or eliminate effects caused by a
natural or environmental disaster or any other
national emergency;



2015, No. 9 Public Finance Management Amendment 3

(g) to meet requests by the Central Bank to issue Treasury
bills for the sole purposes of supporting monetary
policy objectives; and
(h) any other purposes as may be approved by the Cabinet.
(2) When borrowing under subsection (1)(g), the proceeds of
issued Treasury bills shall be deposited in an account at the
Central Bank and used to redeem those debt securities.
(3) Any cost to the State resulting from the issuance of
Treasury bills subsection (1)(g) shall be fully reimbursed by the
Central Bank, unless the Minister directs otherwise.”.

8. New Part XIA inserted - For the principal Act, after Part XI
insert:

“PART XIA
DEBT MANAGEMENT
86A. Objective of debt management - The main objective of
State debt management is to ensure that the financing needs of the
State are met at all times on a timely basis and that the borrowing
costs of the State are as low as possible over the medium term,
within a prudent risk level.

86B. Debt management strategy-(1) The Minister shall have
in place a debt management strategy, including:
(a) the debt management objectives;
(b) an assessment of the macroeconomic framework;
(c) an assessment of the market conditions;
(d) an analysis of the costs and risks of the State’s
portfolio;
(e) a statement of the guidelines for future borrowing by
the State;
(f) any other information that the Financial Secretary
considers necessary for the development of a
comprehensive strategy.
(2) A debt management strategy required under subsection (1)
shall be reviewed annually by the Financial Secretary and
submitted (with any updates or review) to Cabinet for approval.
(3) The State’s borrowing and other debt management
operations are to be consistent with the Government’s debt
management strategy.



4 Public Finance Management Amendment 2015, No. 9

(4) The Treasury annual report submitted to the Legislative
Assembly under section 110 of the Act shall include the
following:
(a) the debt management strategy and rationale;
(b) a statement that the strategy is consistent with the
principles of responsible fiscal management under
section 15;
(c) a statement of how the debt management strategy and
debt management operations achieve the debt
management objectives;
(d) the details of all outstanding debts;
(e) the details of all outstanding guarantees, including
amounts, beneficiaries and the fiscal risks, and
where they cannot be quantified, a statement of
possible impacts;
(f) the details of all outstanding finance lease, supplier
credit and power purchase agreements, including
the fiscal risks and where they cannot be
quantified, a statement of possible impacts;
(g) a review and analysis of the implementation of debt
management strategy in the immediate preceding
financial year;
(h) an analysis of the sustainability of future debt
including an assessment of future debt levels and
debt service commitments;
(i) a statement of any purpose for which Cabinet has
approved a loan for under section 78A(1)(h).”.

9. Section 107 amended - For section 107(1) of the principal Act,
after “that year” insert “pursuant to any public sector cash basis
financial reporting standard developed by the International Federation
of Accountants and”.

10. Section 108 substituted - For section 108 of the principal Act
substitute:

“108. Quarterly summaries-(1) The Financial Secretary shall
prepare, pursuant to any public sector cash basis financial
reporting standard developed by the International Federation of
Accountants, a summary of the receipts and payments from the
beginning of the financial year to the end of that quarter.



2015, No. 9 Public Finance Management Amendment 5

(2) The summary under subsection (1) is to be:
(a) prepared within one (1) month of the end of each
quarter except the last quarter of any financial
year; and
(b) sent to the Audit Office; and
(c) publish in Savali and in a newspaper circulating widely
in Samoa.”.

11. Section 110 amended - For section 110 of the principal Act,
after “extract from the financial statements” insert “prepared pursuant
to any public sector cash basis financial reporting standard developed
by the International Federation of Accountants”.

12. Schedule 5 substituted - For Schedule 5 of the principal Act,
substitute:
“SCHEDULE 5 (section 107)

FORM AND CONTENT OF
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Part 1

1. The financial statements must include the following information:
(a) Statement of Cash Receipts and Payments showing cash controlled, beginning and closing cash balances
and disclosure of account policies and explanatory
notes; and
(b) a disclosure of amounts settled by any third party in the Statement of Cash Receipts and Payments; and
(c) Statement of Comparison of Appropriated Budget and Actual Amounts showing both original and final
budget and actual amounts, and the nature of
movements between final budget and actual amounts
in the reporting period.


6 Public Finance Management Amendment 2015, No. 9

Part 2
1. The financial statements may include disclosure of the following information:
(a) Statement of Financial Position showing the assets, liabilities and net financial position as at balance date
of the reporting period; and
(b) Statement of Funds showing, for each Fund, balances at the beginning and end of the reporting period and
the nature of the movement in the reporting period;
and
(c) Statement of Cash Balances showing a breakdown of the balances held by type of holding; and
(d) Statement of Statutory Expenditure showing details of domestic debt servicing, external debt servicing,
statutory remuneration and other material items of
expenditure; and
(e) Statement of Investments showing the nature or type of investments and current and non-current
investments; and
(f) Statement of Borrowings showing total debt and the breakdown of current and non-current debt, and for
each debt showing the opening and closing balances
for the reporting period and the nature of the
movement during the period, the impact of exchange
rate movements, average interest rate, and loan
balances available for draw down (if applicable); and
(g) Statement of Contingent Gains and Liabilities showing where possible an indication of the gain or cost; and
(h) Statement of Ex gratia Payments approved under section 119; and
(i) Statement of Write-offs approved under section 120
showing in aggregate losses and deficiencies of public
money, irrecoverable amounts of revenue,
irrecoverable debts and overpayments, the value of
assets including investments written off; and detailing
all individual items with a value greater than $100,000
which have been written off; and
(j) Statement of Government transactions prepared under GFS
format; and



2015, No. 9 Public Finance Management Amendment 7

(k) Statement showing, for each account in the Special
Purpose Fund, balances at the beginning and end of the
reporting period and the nature of the movement in the
reporting period.

2. Statement showing for each account in the Trust Fund, balances at the beginning and end of the reporting period and
the nature of the movement in the reporting period.

3. (a) Statement of Accounting Policies setting out the significant accounting policies on which the financial
statements are prepared; and
(b) Other Statements or Notes as specified by the
Financial Secretary in Treasury Instructions or as are
required to provide more detailed information or
explanations.

4. Comparative Amounts: (a) Comparative amounts for the corresponding previous
reporting period must be shown in the Statements,
except where inappropriate or the item has not
previously existed; and
(b) If items included in the current reporting period have been reclassified, the comparative amount of the
previous reporting period should be similarly
reclassified; and
(c) If the respective reporting periods are not equal in length, the period covered must be clearly identified;
and
(d) An amount in relation to the previous reporting period must be shown, even if there is no corresponding
amount for the current reporting period.

5. Certification:
(a) The following are to be attached to the front of the financial statements -
(i) a statement, signed by the Financial
Secretary, as to whether in his or her opinion, the
financial statements present fairly the matters
required by this Schedule; and



8 Public Finance Management Amendment 2015, No. 9

(ii) a copy of the report by the Controller and
Auditor General required by section 107(2); and
(b) At the same time that the financial statements are laid
before the Legislative Assembly, the Controller and
Auditor General shall lay before the Legislative
Assembly a return of public securities held in Samoa
or elsewhere at the end of the financial year to which
those financial statements relate. The return shall
include a full account of all investments made under
section 48 and of all securities redeemed or otherwise
disposed of during that financial year.”.

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The Public Finance Management Amendment Act 2015
is administered by the Ministry of Finance.