Bill obliges gov’t agencies to transfer revenues to Treasury

AMMAN — The Cabinet on Sunday approved a 2015 draft law governing the transfer of independent government agencies’ revenues to the Treasury and referred it to the Lower House.

The draft law obliges each department that receives state revenues — including taxes, fees, fines, debts, rents and any funds they generate — to transfer it to the General Budget Department’s (GBD) account in the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ), the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The draft law also stipulates that no government agency has the right to directly deduct any amount of money or spend from it, while the GBD will have the power to allocate funds that meet the financial needs of each agency according to its budget.

The new law applies to all public institutions, including those whose legislations stipulate the allocation of revenues to its employees or any third party whether through direct or indirect channels.

The law also aims at increasing transparency regarding the volume of government revenues and expenditures, and improving oversight over state revenues, according to Petra.

The size of revenues of the financially and administratively independent state institutions is estimated at JD813.7 million in 2015, while their spending is put at around JD1.8 billion. 

Meanwhile, the Council of Ministers approved a 2015 draft law regulating the work of money exchangers and referred it to the Lower House after withdrawing the 2005 version of the law, according to Petra. 

The new law aims to expand the types of companies licensed to practise money exchange, removing restrictions that obstruct the flow of foreign investments and money to and from the Kingdom.

The draft law includes conditions and requirements for licensing new exchange companies, and increases the powers of CBJ through imposing regulations on money exchange companies that ensure their adherence to rules in order to guarantee their fiscal positions remain at safe levels, Petra said.