8 JULY 2004. - An Act to adjust the Ways and Averages of the Fiscal Year 2004 (1)

ALBERT II, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The House of Representatives adopted and sanctioned the following:
Article 1^er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 74, 3° of the Constitution.
Art. 2. For the fiscal year 2004, the current state revenues are reassessed:
For tax revenues,
at 38.589.281.000 euros
For non-tax revenues,
at 3.516.262.000 euros
Be together 42.105.543.000 euros
in accordance with Part I of the attached table.
Art. 3. For the fiscal year 2004, capital revenues are reassessed to the sum of 4.039,889.000 euros, in accordance with Part II of the attached table.
Art. 4. For the fiscal year 2004, the proceeds of loans are revalued to the sum of 32.202.500.000 euros, in accordance with Title III of the attached table.
Art. 5. Section 8 of the Act of 22 December 2003 containing the Ways and Means Budget of the 2004 Budget Year is replaced by the following text:
§ 1^er. To cover the insufficiency of revenues in relation to the expenditures of the year 2004, including the repayment of borrowings and any expenses resulting from the financial management operations referred to in § 3, 1°, below, or the passenger cash imbalances in the fiscal year:
1° the King is authorized to issue public loans.
When the King has established a general framework for the issuance of borrowings that determines the limits of powers that may be delegated, the Minister of Finance may be authorized to issue, during the fiscal year, the borrowings that fall within that framework;
2° the Minister of Finance is authorized to issue cash certificates, Treasury bills or any other interest-bearing financing instrument.
3° The loans referred to in 1° and 2° above can be issued both in Belgium and abroad, in euros and in foreign currencies.
§ 2. The main objective of public debt management is to minimize the financial cost of the State's debt as part of market risk management and operational risks and in accordance with the overall objectives of fiscal policy and monetary policy.
The management of the Public Debt also aims to minimize the financial cost of the debt of the public entities of the central administration, other than the state itself.
To this end, the Minister of Finance determines, on the proposal of the Strategic Debt Committee operating within the Cash Administration, the general guidelines for the management of State debt; These guidelines include, in particular, the structure of the debt portfolio and the level of risks associated with it.
The Strategic Debt Committee shall make arrangements for the implementation of these general guidelines.
These are the framework for the implementation of the financial transactions themselves referred to by the Formed Debt Agency within the Treasury Board
§ 3. The Minister of Finance is authorized:
1° to conclude any financial management transaction within the limits determined under § 2 above.
A financial management operation means:
(a) Treasury's day-to-day operations, namely, the financial transactions resulting from the need to ensure a daily cash balance;
(b) trade in securities;
(c) the adaptation of existing contractual conditions or terms of refund of borrowings, carried out in agreement with lenders and in accordance with market conditions;
(d) investments of any kind, including those necessary for the continuity of Treasury funding;
(e) swaps of interest and foreign exchange swaps, options, futures contracts and any other instrument for the management of financial, budgetary and credit risks related to State debt and authorized by the Minister of Finance under § 2 above;
(f) purchases of State debt securities in secondary markets;
(g) temporary disposals, through transfer-retrocession or other transactions that have a similar economic effect of linear obligations for individuals to the Fund of Rents and Cash Certificates and Linear Bonds to primary dealers and recognized dealers who are market content in the electronic system "inter-dealer broker" designated by the Treasury for the market of the Treasury of the Kingdom of Belgium, in order to ensure the proper functioning of the secondary market.
The Treasury may extend these temporary arrangements to other institutions that would be market content in the same electronic system.
Temporary disposition of securities, as described in paragraph 1^er can also be worn on linear bonds.
2° by derogation from Article 6 of the Act of 2 August 1955 deleting the Public Debt Fund and Article 7 of the Royal Decree of 27 February 1956 regulating the operation of the Amortization Fund created by the said law, to maintain in deposit with the State Caissier, titles to the holder redeemed for the amortization, in order to assign them, if necessary, to
3° complementary to exchanges of existing debt securities against new linear obligations, to liquidate prorated interest payments related to securities in circulation, by way of handover to persons entitled to linear obligations;
4° in accordance with the Convention of 5 January 1994 with the National Bank of Belgium, to create dematerialized securities representative of the debt of the State, having the same characteristics as those of the securities in circulation, in order to lend these short-term securities to the National Bank of Belgium according to the needs of its securities compensation system;
5° to issue dematerialized securities denominated in foreign currency prior to the day of the value of their subscription, in order to allow investors to dispose of these value-day securities in the compensation systems referred to in Article 1^er, § 2, b and c of the Royal Decree of 14 June 1994 establishing the rules applicable to the maintenance of dematerialized securities in foreign currencies or in units of accounts other than the euro;
6° to issue cash certificates and linear bonds to be included in the securities clearing system of the National Bank of Belgium in order to make possible the transactions under 1°, g).
§ 4. 1° By derogation from Article 4 of the coordinated laws of 17 July 1991 on State accounting, the proceeds of short-term financing instruments (cash certificates, Treasury bills and similar instruments) and the proceeds resulting from the transactions referred to in § 3, 1°, g) are paid on cash or cash accounts;
2° to ensure continuity of Treasury funding, the authorizations referred to in § 1, 1° and 2° also apply to borrowings whose conditions are fixed in previous fiscal years and whose proceeds are paid in 2004;
3° the Minister of Finance is authorized to manage cash in foreign currencies to avoid any impact on the conduct of the monetary policy of foreign currency transactions in the context of the financial management of the Treasury on the conduct of monetary policy;
4° the proceeds of borrowing resulting from the conclusion of Treasury Financial Management Operations and:
(a) interim expenditure on asset formation and associated costs;
(b) income related to the realization of established assets, the associated expenses and revenues arising from such assets,
may be recorded on special financial accounts, in euros or in foreign currencies, which are open for this purpose to the National Bank of Belgium, regardless of the immediate account of the Treasury, and which are managed by the Minister of Finance. Constituted assets may also be recorded in special securities accounts in euros or foreign currencies, opened on behalf of the Treasury in the securities compensation system of the National Bank of Belgium or with national or international clearing bodies. The Minister of Finance shall determine, where appropriate, the terms and conditions for the opening and management of these accounts and those relating to their periodic balances.
§ 5. The Minister of Finance may delegate to the general public servants of the Treasury Administration and to the staff of the Debt Agency incorporated in the Cash Administration that he designates for the specific tasks provided by him:
(a) the power to determine, within the limits provided by the King and in accordance with the requirements of the Consolidated Revenue Fund, the amount and financial conditions of the emissions of public borrowing referred to in § 1, 1°, as well as the powers necessary for the successful completion of such emissions;
(b) the powers referred to in §§ 1, 2°; 3, 1° to 6° and 4, 3° and 4°.
Art. 6. Section 13 of the Act of 22 December 2003 containing the Ways and Means Budget of the 2004 Budget Year is replaced by the following provision:
Pursuant to Article 53, 1° of the special law of 16 January 1989 on the financing of communities and regions, as amended by the special law of 16 July 1993 to complete the federal structure of the State and by the special law of 13 July 2001 on refinancing of communities and extension of the fiscal competences of the regions, and taking into account:
the award of late interest, the burden of moratorium interests and fixed and proportional tax fines on the regional taxes referred to in section 3 of this special law;
the situation referred to in Article 5, § 3, second paragraph, where the Flemish Region itself provides, from the 1999 taxation year, the real estate tax service referred to in Article 3, 5 of the said special law;
regional tax transfers referred to in section 3 of the said special law, plus the above-mentioned interests and fines, are estimated for the fiscal year 2004 to 2.974.089.000 EUR for the Flemish Region, to 1.387.249.000 EUR for the Walloon Region and to 794.5.00002 EUR for the Brussels Capital Region.
Art. 7. Section 14 of the Act of 22 December 2003 containing the Ways and Means Budget of the 2004 Budget Year is replaced by the following provision:
In accordance with Article 53, 2° of the special law of 16 January 1989 relating to the financing of communities and regions, amended by the special law of 16 July 1993 to complete the federal structure of the State and by the special law of 13 July 2001 relating to the refinancing of the communities and the extension of the fiscal powers of the regions and taking into account the law of 23 May 2000 setting the criteria referred to in Article 39, § 2 of the said special law of 16 January 1989
Pursuant to Article 59 of the Law of 31 December 1983 of the institutional reforms for the German-speaking Community the transfer referred to in Article 58nonies of the said Law for the fiscal year 2004, taking into account the balance of the final deposit of the fiscal year 2003, is estimated at EUR 5.057.670 for the German-speaking Community.
Art. 8. Section 15 of the Act of 22 December 2003 containing the Ways and Means Budget of the 2004 Budget Year is replaced by the following provision:
In accordance with sections 53, 3° and 35octies of the special law of 16 January 1989 relating to the financing of communities and regions, as amended by the special law of 16 July 1993 to complete the federal structure of the State and by the special law of 13 July 2001 relating to the refinancing of the communities and the extension of the fiscal powers of the regions, the transfers referred to in articles 34 and 35ter to 35septies for the fiscal year 2004, taking into account final discount balances,
Art. 9. Section 16 of the Act of 22 December 2003 containing the Ways and Means Budget of the 2004 Budget Year is replaced by the following provision:
The transfer referred to in section 65bis of the special law of 16 January 1989 on the financing of communities and regions, as amended by the special law of 16 July 1993 to complete the federal structure of the State and by the special law of 13 July 2001 on refinancing of the communities and extension of the fiscal powers of the regions, for the fiscal year 2004, taking into account the balance of the final count of the fiscal year 2003, is estimated at EUR 21.007.166 for the French Commission
Art. 10. Section 17 of the Act of 22 December 2003 containing the Ways and Means Budget of the 2004 Budget Year is replaced by the following provision:
The transfer referred to in section 46bis of the special law of 12 January 1989 on Brussels institutions, as amended by the special law of 13 July 2001 on the transfer of various jurisdictions to regions and communities as well as by the special law of 13 July 2001 on the refinancing of communities and the extension of the tax powers of the regions for the fiscal year 2004, taking into account the balance of the final deposit of the fiscal year 2003, is estimated at EUR 26.258.958.
Art. 11. Revenues for the benefit of the Communities and Regions are paid, as the case may be, either to a general budget allocation fund or to a Treasury Board account.
Art. 12. This Act comes into force on the day of its publication in the Belgian Monitor.
Promulgate this Act, order that it be put on the State Seal and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels on 8 July 2004.
ALBERT
By the King:
The Minister of Budget,
J. VANDE LANOTTE
Minister of Finance,
D.REYNDERS
Seal of the State Seal:
Minister of Justice,
L. ONKELINX
____
Note
Parliamentary references
Regular session 2003-2004
House of Representatives
Parliamentary documents - Bill: No. 1064/001 - Report No. 1064/002 - Text adopted No. 1064/003
Annales parlementaire - Discussion : séances des 9 et 10 juin 2004 - Adoption : séance du 10 juin 2004.
For the consultation of the table, see image