As enacted

Contents

Public Financial Management Act 2024 · As enacted · Part XVIII · Interpretation

70. Interpretation

Official English translation. The Sinhala text prevails. Open the official Sinhala text, official PDF on documents.gov.lk

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires -

“Accounting Officer” shall have the same meaning as in the National Audit Act, No. 19 of 2018;

“annual action plan” means the document that outlines the actions, activities and resources that will be used to achieve goals and priorities of the public entity for a financial year;

“annual budget” means the budget approved by the

Parliament for a financial year;

“Appropriation Act” means an Act reviewed and approved by the Parliament to make a payment from the Consolidated Fund;

“arrears” means financial liabilities unpaid at the maturity date, the latter established by written law or by contract, should the maturity not be established by either of the mechanisms described above, the maturity period shall be established as ninety days from the date of the relevant invoice or of satisfaction of the terms of the relevant contract;

“budgetary entities” means Ministries, Departments,

District Secretariats of the Government and special spending units;

“Central Bank” means the Central Bank established under the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Act, No.16

of 2023;

“Chief Accounting Officer” shall have the same meaning as in the National Audit Act, No. 19 of 2018;

“commitment” means the administrative action to which requisition is made prior to making an obligation;

“Constitution” means the Constitution of the

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka;

“Department” means an entity setup statutorily or administratively, that has been assigned a specific area of activity and has been given a Head of

Expenditure in the annual budget;

“directives” include circulars, guidelines or special directions issued by General Treasury or Department under the General Treasury;

“District Secretariat” means an entity entrusted with the administrative and development function of the district;

“disposal” means the sale, transfer, license, lease or other disposition including any sale and leaseback transaction of any property by any person, including any sale, assignment, transfer or other disposal, with or without recourse, of any notes or accounts receivable or any rights and claims associated therewith;

“financial year” means notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other written law, the financial year of the Government and public entities shall be twelve months commencing on first day of January of each year other than the

Companies established under the Companies

Act, No. 07 of 2007, with a Government stake;

“fiscal risk” means factors or events that may cause fiscal revenue, expense, financing, asset and liability variables to deviate from forecasts in annual and multi-year fiscal programming; and it may originates from domestic or foreign macroeconomic conditions, State-Owned Enterprises operation, implementation of public-private partnerships, and natural disasters among other causes;

“Government” means the Government of the

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka;

“guarantee” means an explicit undertaking by the

Government as the guarantor to guarantee fulfillment of contracted obligations of another legal person or entity under certain specified conditions;

“Head of Expenditure” means, in relation to the

Appropriation Act, the annual budget and the supplementary estimates, an appropriation that–

(a)

specifies the total expenditure for a budgetary entity; and

(b)

separately voted by the Parliament;

“levy” means a payment made by a public corporation to the Consolidated Fund of a return on the capital grants of the Government at such rate or a payment to the Consolidated Fund of such amount as may be determined, from time to time, by the Minister;

“medium-term” means between three to five years;

“medium-term fiscal framework” means a set of economic assumptions and fiscal projections and targets covering the upcoming financial year and the four succeeding financial years (projection years);

“national development policy framework” means a logical and an overarching structure that entails long-term goals and guidance for the development of policies;

“national policy” means the policies derived from the national development policy framework to achieve the national development objectives;

“non-financial assets” means produced or non-produced movable or immovable assets, including lands, buildings, structures, plant and machinery, vehicles, office equipment and furniture, and other assets declared as non-financial assets that are fully owned, assigned, possessed, vested in, utilized, or leased by a public entity;

“non statutory funds” means funds that are not established by law;

“official bank account” means any bank account opened with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka or a commercial bank or a specialized bank licensed under the provisions of the Banking Act, No. 30

of 1988 and authorized by the Secretary to the

Treasury as prescribed by regulations, to be operated and maintained in order to facilitate the management of public finance;

“primary balance” shall be the overall balance of the

Government excluding interest payments of the

Government. In calculating the primary balance, proceeds from privatization or commercialization of public assets shall not be part of Government revenues, and the

Government’s equity injections to corporations other than banks for recapitalization purposes shall be recorded as Government expenditure;

“primary expenditure” shall be the total expenditure of the Government excluding debt services in a financial year;

“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations;

“President” means the President of the Democratic

Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka;

“Provincial Council” means a Provincial Council established for a Province by virtue of Article 154A of the Constitution;

“public corporation” shall have the same meaning assigned to such expression under Article 170

of the Constitution;

“public debt” means liabilities of the Government created by debt and debt of the entities specified in paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section 3;

“public finance “includes –

(a)

funds allocated to any public entity specified in paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section 3 by the Appropriation Act of the relevant year;

(b)

funds held by any public entity specified in paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section 3 in terms of any written law excluding approved termination funds which includes thrift, savings or building society or welfare fund to which contributions are made by employees or, any gratuity fund maintained for the purpose of payment of gratuities to employees on the termination of their services under the relevant written law;

(c)

funds vested in the Government by virtue of the provisions of any written law; and

(d)

funds received or borrowed by any public entity specified in paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section 3 with the approval of the Parliament;

“public funds” means moneys in the Consolidated

Fund or any other Fund and moneys under the control of the Government excluding approved termination funds which includes thrift, savings or building society or welfare fund to which contributions are made by employees or, any gratuity fund maintained for the purpose of payment of gratuities to employees on the termination of their services under the relevant written law;

“public investment programme” means a medium-term rolling plan consisting of all ongoing and proposed public investment projects and public-private partnership projects prepared based on the national development policy framework;

“public investment project” means an integrated set of activities funded by the Government, provincial council or local authority aimed at allocating resources of financial, physical or service towards the development, improvement, operation or maintenance of public assets or services to enhance the quality of life of citizens and promote economic growth and address societal needs;

“public office holder” means Government appointee to a body entrusted with an advisory or administration function, and remunerated through the public finance;

“public officer” shall have the same meaning given in

Article 170 of the Constitution;

“public-private partnership” means a long-term contract between a private party and a

Government entity for providing a public asset or service in which the private party bears significant risk and management responsibility;

“relevant Minister” means the Minister under whose purview the public entity is assigned under the paragraph (1) of Article 44 of the Constitution;

“Revenue Accounting Officer” means an Accounting

Officer who is vested with the responsibility of facilitating of the preparation of the annual revenue estimates of the revenue codes assigned by the annual budget estimates and who will ultimately accountable for variations between estimate and actual collections;

“special spending unit” means an entity, other than a

Ministry, Department, District Secretariat or

Provincial Council, that has been given a Head of Expenditure in the annual budget;

“State-Owned Enterprise” means -

(a)

a public corporation within the meaning of the Constitution;

(b)

entities established and operated under the

Companies Act, No.07 of 2007 in which the State has direct or indirect controlling interest by virtue of its shareholding; or

(c)

State-Owned Corporations, converted in terms of the Conversion of Public

Corporations or Government Owned

Business Undertakings into Public

Companies Act, No.23 of 1987, or such other Acts in terms of which any business entity has been vested with the

Government, with the exception of the Central Bank of

Sri Lanka ;

“Statutory Fund” means any fund other than the

Consolidated Fund, created or established under any written law or an Act of Parliament for a specific purpose, to which public finances are allocated excluding approved termination funds which includes thrift, savings or building society or welfare fund to which contributions are made by employees or, any gratuity fund maintained for the purpose of payment of gratuities to employees on the termination of their services, under the relevant written law;

“tax expenditure” includes exemptions, allowances, credits, rate reliefs and tax deferrals pertaining to tax;

“trust” shall have the same meaning assign to that in section 3 of the Trust Ordinance, No. 9 of 1917;

and

“vote on account” means an estimate of Government expenditure approved by the Parliament in order to continue the Government services and development activities for a maximum of four months, in the absence of an Appropriation Act.

Read on from s 71