PREAMBLE

These Regulations shall govern the financial administration of the ECO Cultural Institute and financed through centralized annual budget contributed by the Member States.

Article – 1

General

1. When the Board of Trustees of the Institute or the ECO Council of Ministers or the Council of Permanent Representatives are considering questions involving expenditure by the Institute, the President of the Institute shall report on the financial implications

Article – 2 Financial Year

1. The financial year shall run from the first day of January to the last day of

Article – 3 Preparation of the Budget

• The annual budget estimates of the Institute shall be prepared by the President of the The draft budgets shall be available for examination by member Governments not later than four months before the beginning of the financial year.

• The Board of Trustees of the Institute is the principal organ to examine and approve the budget of the Institute. On occasion that meeting of the Board of Trustees is not foreseen, the ECO Council of Permanent Representatives and ECO Council of Ministers shall adopt and approve the annual or supplementary budgets of the Institute.
• On the absence of the Board of Trustees the budget of the Institute shall be examined by member Governments and after incorporation of their views on the budget it shall be adopted by the Council of Permanent Representatives for submission to the Council of Ministers for final During the consideration of the budget by the Council of Permanent Representatives, finance and accounting experts of the Member States contributing to the budget may participate in the meeting of the CPR.

Article – 4

• The budget proposals shall be drawn up in accordance with the present budget format of ECO. If the proposed expenditure under any Chapter exceeds or falls short of the current year’s budget provision by 10 per cent, break-up of expenditure shall be given with general explanation in respect of extension or reduction of any existing

• If any major increase or decrease of activity involving a fluctuation of more than 10 per cent either way in any Chapter or addition of a new Chapter for any new activity is proposed, detailed explanatory information and such other evidence as may be deemed necessary to support the budget proposals in that Chapter will be attached to the budget documents in the form a self-contained Institute note for approval by the Board of Trustees or the relevant ECO

Article – 5

1. The budgets shall be drawn up in US dollars.

Article – 6

• The budgets are normally approved before the beginning of the new financial year.
• If the budgets have not been approved before the beginning of the new financial year, the President of the Institute shall be authorized to make payments to sustain Institute’s essential functioning on the basis of the authorization given by the Council of Permanent Representatives according to the provisional budget.

• If the Board of Trustees or the ECO Council of Permanent Representatives is unable to meet or adopt the budget before the beginning of the new financial year, the President of the Institute shall be authorized to make payments to sustain Institute’s essential functioning on provisional basis for a maximum period of three months on the basis of the budget approved for the previous financial

Article – 7 Supplementary Budget

1. Supplementary budgets should be avoided so far as possible. However, if the necessity for a supplementary budget should arise, it may be submitted to the CPR for approval at least two months before the time during which the actual expenditure has to be made.

Article – 8

Application of the Budget

• The President of the Institute may transfer credits between items in any one Chapter upto 50% of the budget within the limit of the credit voted for the Chapter

• The President of the Institute may transfer funds between Chapters of the budget, upto 10 per cent whenever needed. Funds may only be transferred between Chapters under his authority and without reference to the Member Governments in order to meet unforeseen expenses on purposes for which expenditure has already been sanctioned by the Council of Ministers or the Board of

• All such transfers shall be shown in the financial statements referred to in Article 20, together with an explanation of the unforeseen

Article – 9

• Credits shall be available for commitment only during the financial year, to which they relate. The balance so available shall be transferred to a general reserve Expenditure from the general reserve fund in the subsequent

years shall only be made with specific authorization of the Board of Trustees or the ECO Council of Ministers.

• However, payments made during the first two months following the end of the financial year in respect of commitments properly incurred before the end of that financial year, shall be charged to the budget of that financial

• If payment of a commitment for the previous financial year has not been made before the beginning of the fourth month of the following financial year, the credits concerned shall be cancelled automatically and corresponding credits as necessary will be sought by means of a supplementary

• All transfers of money, cheques, financial commitments, payment orders and any other document related to the expenditure of the budget shall be sealed and signed by the President of the Institute and the Accounts Officer. The signature of Accounts Officer is required on the vouchers pertaining to all The President of the Institute may temporarily authorize the Executive Director to sign the above documents on his behalf.

Article – 10

Provision of Funds

• The appropriations approved by Board of Trustees or the ECO Council of Ministers shall be financed by contributions from Member States on equal or such proportionate basis as may be determined by the aforementioned organs in accordance with Article 7 of the Charter of the Institute.

• Funds available through means other than contribution of Member States such as donations, endowments and other resources as mentioned in Article 7 of the Charter, shall be kept in special accounts for implementation of certain

• After approval of the annual budget, the President of the Institute shall, within 14 days, advise the contributing States of their assessed contribution under the respective budgets and request them to remit funds.

• Contributions of Member States to the annual budgets shall be considered due and payable in full within 30 days of the receipt of the letters of assessment. However, a programme for the payments of contributions shall be prepared by the President of the Institute in consultation with the Governments of the Member States and submitted to them. In drawing up such a programme, the technical financial difficulties of Member States shall be taken into account to the extent consistent with meeting the financial requirements of the In no case shall contributions be payable before the beginning of the financial year. Any amount received in excess of the assessed share of a Member State shall, in consultation with the Government of the Member States concerned,

either be returned or held in a separate account on behalf of the concerned State for adjustment against its contribution in the following year/s.

• Contributions to the budget shall be payable in US dollars. The President of the Institute may, however, subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees or the ECO Council of Permanent Representatives, request member Governments to pay all or part of the contribution in other convertible currencies, if he considers such currency is

Article – 11

• The funds of the Institute shall be kept in a regularly scheduled Bank excluding any private investment, finance or trading Any change in the established arrangements shall require approval of the Board of Trustees or the ECO Council of Ministers.

• The President shall conduct all exchange operations necessary for the requirements of the Institute through the legal agencies against proper exchange

• The President shall designate the Executive Director or the Accounts Officer in the Institute who may disburse and receive funds on his/her behalf. All cheques issued by the Institute should bear at least two signatures, authorized by the President.

Article – 12

• Accounts shall be kept to show:

• amounts authorized, commitments undertaken, payments made, and available balances of authorizations – with respect to each item in the budget;

• assessments made against contributing Governments, together with the payments received from them and the balances remaining due;

• miscellaneous income;

• cash balance and balances at banks;

• other assets and liabilities of the

• The Institute shall also maintain documentation to support the accounts mentioned

• Special bank accounts shall be opened for the Termination Benefit account and the Contingencies account, and the funds provided in the budget for these purposes shall be transferred to the special bank accounts as soon as possible after the budgets are

• Payments from the Provident Fund shall be made in accordance with Staff

• A statement on the balances, income and expenditure from these accounts shall be attached to the auditor’s report each

Article – 13

Write Offs

• The President of the Institute may after full investigation, authorize the writing off on losses of cash, stores and other assets upto US$100/- in each case. A full statement of all such amounts written off shall be attached as an annex to the annual accounts.

• Cases involving sums in excess of US$100/- will be referred to the member Governments for their consideration and decision by the Board of Trustees or the Council of Permanent

Article – 14

Investments

1. The President of the Institute is authorized to take advantage of interest/profit accorded to deposits by the bank or banks in which the funds of the Institute are kept. Such interest/profit will be shown in the accounts under the Chapter for

Article – 15

Currency and Exchange

1. The accounts of the Institute shall be kept in the currency of the Budgets as laid down in Article-5.

Article – 16

Audit of Accounts

• The Audit Board appointed by the Board of Trustees or the ECO Council of Ministers shall audit the accounts of the
• The President of the Institute shall provide the Audit Board with all the facilities including necessary services it may require for the accomplishment of its
• The audit board shall submit their report to the President of the Institute for forwarding to the member
• The salaries, travelling expenses, subsistence allowance and all other expenses of the Auditors and their assistants shall be paid by their own

Article – 17

1. The accounts and financial statements for financial year shall be completed not later than four months after the end of the financial year and shall then be submitted to the Audit

Article – 18

1. The Board of Trustees or in its absence the ECO Council of Permanent Representatives shall examine the Audit Board’s report and any observations which the President of the Institute has made Approval of the report by the Board of Trustees or the ECO Council of Ministers shall authorize the closing of the accounts of the Institute for the financial year in question.

Article – 19

Effective Date

1. These Regulations once approved shall take immediate

Article – 20

1. Amendments to these Regulations, proposed either by a Member State or by the President of the Institute shall require the approval of the Council of Ministers or the Board of Trustees.