The Finance Division has tightened rules for supplementary grants and re-appropriation of funds, saying no additional unbudgeted expenditure beyond parliamentary approvals will be considered except in cases of severe natural disasters, under measures linked to the IMF's $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF).

The Budget Wing of the Ministry of Finance has devised a strategy for re-appropriation and additional allocation of funds during the current financial year. Where required funds cannot be provided through re-appropriation or a Technical Supplementary Grant (TSG), the Principal Accounting Officer (PAO) will have to provide valid justification and cogent reasons for seeking a supplementary grant.

Under Article 84 of the Constitution and Section 10 of the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act, 2019, where the amount authorised for a particular service during a financial year is insufficient, or expenditure is required for a new service not included in the Annual Budget Statement (ABS) and the Schedule of Authorised Expenditure, the relevant PAOs or heads of departments, organisations and subordinate offices will take the required steps.

The Finance Division said it had observed that a large number of cases seeking relaxation of the May 31 cut-off date for re-appropriation of funds under Section 11 of the PFM Act, 2019, were received every year in June. It has therefore decided that requests for relaxation of the cut-off date will only be considered where the re-appropriation orders have been approved by the competent authority.