Chapter VIII. Money, Finance and Budget
Section 166
The expenditure estimates of the State shall be made in the form of an Act. If the Annual Appropriations Act for the following fiscal year is not enacted in time, the law on annual appropriations for the preceding fiscal year shall apply for the time being.
Section 167
The presentation of the Annual Appropriations Bill must be accompanied by relating documents clearly showing revenue estimates and objectives, activities, work program and projects of each item of the expenditure of estimates. It must also show the financial status of the State with aggregate profiles of expenditures and revenues, benefits and the loss of revenue from tax exemptions, necessity to set a budget to fund past commitments, debt accumulation of the State as well as the financial positions of State enterprises in the fiscal year that appropriations are requested and in the previous fiscal year for additional consideration.
Any expenditure that cannot be directly allocated to government agencies, State enterprises or any other State agencies, it shall be allocated to the Central Fund, with reasons indicated.
There shall be legislation on State finance to determine the budgetary discipline, including rules on medium-range financial plan, rules on revenue provision, guidelines for preparing State expenditure estimates, management of money and assets, accounting, public funding, debt accumulation or commitment of State assets; and rules to determine the amount of reserve for emergencies and the likes, which will provide a framework for revenue provision, expenditure based on economic stability concept, sustainable economy development, and social justice.
Section 168
The House of Representatives must finish the consideration and analysis of the annual appropriations bill, a supplementary appropriations bill and a transfer of appropriations bill within one hundred and five days as from the date the bill is introduced to the House of Representatives.
If the House of Representatives has not finished the consideration of the bill within the period referred to in paragraph one, such bill shall be deemed to have been approved by the House of Representatives and shall be submitted to the Senate.
In the consideration by the Senate, the Senate must approve or disapprove it without any amendment within twenty days as from the date the bill is introduced to the Senate. Upon the lapse of such period, such bill shall be deemed to have been approved; in such case and in the case where the Senate approves it, further proceedings under section 150 shall be taken.
If the Senate disapproves the bill, the provisions of section 148, paragraph two shall apply mutatis mutandis.
In the consideration of the annual appropriations bill, the supplementary appropriations bill and the transfer of appropriations bill, a member of the House of Representatives shall not submit a motion adding any item or amount to the bill, but may submit a motion reducing or abridging the expenditures which are not expenditures according to any of the following obligations:
- Money for payment of the principal of a loan;
- Interest on a loan;
- Money payable in accordance with the law.
In the consideration by the House of Representatives, the Senate, or a committee, any proposal, submission of a motion or commission of an act, which results in direct or indirect involvement by members of the House of Representatives, senators or members of a committee in the use of the appropriations, shall not be permitted.
In the case where members of the House of Representatives or senators of not less than one-tenth of the total number of the existing members of each House are of the opinion that the violation of the provisions of paragraph six has occurred, they shall refer it to the Constitutional Court for decision and the Constitutional Court shall decide it within seven days as from the date of its receipt. In the case where the Constitutional Court decides that the violation of the provisions of paragraph six has occurred, such proposal, submission of the motion, or commission of the act shall be ineffective.
The State shall allocate adequate budgets for the independent administration of the National Assembly, the Constitutional Court, the Courts of Justice, the Administrative Courts and independent organizations under this Constitution.
The National Assembly, courts, and agencies under paragraph eight may submit a motion directly to the commission if in their opinion their budgets are insufficient.
Section 169
The payment of State funds shall be made only when it has been authorized by the law on appropriations, the law on budgetary procedure, the law on transfer of appropriations or the law on treasury balance, except that it may be prepaid in the case of urgent necessity under the rules and procedure provided by the law. In such case, the expenditure estimates for reimbursement must be set aside in the Transfer of Appropriations Act, the Supplementary Appropriations Act, or the Annual Appropriations Act for the following fiscal year. The sources of revenues for use in the reimbursement for the prepaid expenditure shall be specified.
In the event of the country bring in a state of war or battle, the Council of Ministers has the power to transfer or use the budgets allocated for State agencies or State enterprises to finance activities not stipulated in the annual appropriations act and shall report its action to the National Assembly without delay.
In the case where budgets for one finance activity of State agencies or State enterprises has been transferred or used for another finance activity, the Government shall report it to the National Assembly for every period of six months.
Section 170
A State agency, whose revenue is not required to be sent to the State coffers, shall prepare its own balance sheet of income and expenditure and submit it to the Council of Ministers at the end of every fiscal year for further reporting to the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The expenditure under paragraph one shall fall within the budgetary discipline under this Chapter.
