New Measure Eases Year-End Disbursement of Public Project Funds

The Ministry of Finance has taken a new step to accelerate the implementation of public investment projects by easing the use of payment appropriations allocated to public institutions during the financial year. In particular, when such funds are notified in the final months of the year, the supervisory authority may now approve an amended budget incorporating those appropriations before the institution’s deliberative body convenes. This allows the institution to begin the procedures required to use the funds without having to wait for the next session of its deliberative body.

The measure was set out in a memorandum issued by the Directorate General of the Budget at the Ministry of Finance, dated September 20, 2026, and bearing reference No. 5775. The memorandum was published among the official circulars of the Directorate General of the Budget and concerns the implementation of payment appropriations allocated during the financial year for investment operations granted to public administrative institutions and similar public entities placed under supervisory authority.

According to the document reviewed by Echorouk, the Directorate General of the Budget has identified delays in the use of payment appropriations allocated during the financial year. The problem is particularly acute when appropriations are notified during the final quarter, leaving institutions with insufficient time to complete the procedures required to incorporate and use the funds. This can affect the pace of investment operations and prevent them from achieving their planned objectives within the prescribed deadlines.

The issue, according to the memorandum, is not necessarily linked to a lack of funding or unavailable appropriations. It is also related to the procedural process that institutions previously had to follow when new payment appropriations were allocated. Each time additional payment appropriations were granted, the institution’s deliberative body had to convene to examine and approve a draft amended budget incorporating those appropriations, after which the supervisory authority would give its final approval.

When appropriations were received toward the end of the year, this sequence of procedures could consume a significant portion of the remaining implementation period, particularly when the scheduled session of the deliberative body did not coincide with the date on which the new appropriations were notified.

The memorandum notes that, in some cases, this situation resulted in payment appropriations allocated during the final quarter of the financial year going unused and subsequently being carried forward as outstanding liabilities, even though those appropriations had not been included in the preparation of the following year’s draft Finance Bill.

The Directorate General of the Budget draws a distinction between the nature of the investment project itself and changes affecting the appropriations allocated to it. It considers that allocating additional payment appropriations does not amount to reconsidering the feasibility or relevance of the investment project itself. The projects concerned have already been registered under commitment authorizations, previously submitted to and examined by the institution’s deliberative body.

Consequently, the need to convene the deliberative body every time additional payment appropriations are allocated does not involve reassessing the project itself. Rather, it concerns the incorporation of additional funding into the institution’s budget.

To address this issue and accelerate the use of funds earmarked for investment projects, the Directorate General of the Budget has introduced a new arrangement allowing the supervisory authority to act before the deliberative body convenes.

On the basis of the grant-award decision specifying the amount of additional payment appropriations allocated to each investment operation, the supervisory authority may now approve the amended budget incorporating those appropriations before the deliberative body holds its meeting.

In practical terms, the institution concerned will no longer have to wait for a session of its deliberative body before completing the approval process for an amended budget covering the additional appropriations. This will shorten implementation times, particularly when funding is notified during the final part of the financial year.

The memorandum does not eliminate the role of the deliberative body. Instead, it changes the timing of its review of the amended budget. Authorizing officers are required to inform the deliberative bodies of amended budgets approved by the supervisory authority at the session following the allocation of the additional payment appropriations.

Under the new procedure, therefore, an institution may incorporate the additional appropriations and proceed with their implementation once the supervisory authority has approved the amended budget. The deliberative body is then informed of the amended budget at its subsequent session, rather than the prior approval being made conditional on waiting for that meeting to take place.

At its core, the new arrangement is intended to prevent financial appropriations earmarked for investment projects from being frozen because of procedural delays and the limited time remaining in the financial year. The problem becomes increasingly pressing as the end of the fiscal year approaches.

The measure should also reduce the risk of appropriations remaining unused and subsequently being carried forward, at a time when they are intended to finance the investment operations for which they were originally allocated.

The move forms part of a broader effort to simplify the implementation of public investment appropriations. Earlier this year, the Directorate General of the Budget issued several memoranda concerning the implementation of payment appropriations allocated to public investment operations.

In simple terms, the new procedure means that money earmarked for a public project will no longer have to wait for the institution’s regular meeting to approve an amended budget when additional appropriations are allocated during the financial year, particularly toward its end. The supervisory authority can approve the amended budget in advance, after which the deliberative body will be informed at its next session. The change is therefore designed to save time, accelerate project implementation and ensure that allocated funds can be used before the end of the financial year.