Read about the Fiscal Budget

A resolution of the Storting of 19^th November 1959, with amendments of 31^st May 1974, 27^th May 1977, 19^th December 1978, 9^th June 1982, 20^th December 1983, 20^th March 1985, 19^th December 1985, 16^th December 1986, 14^th June 1990, 11^th June 1991, 7^th November 1991, 3^rd November 1992, 12^th November 1993, 19^th June 1997, 22^nd March 2001, 2^nd December 2002, 6^th May 2003 and 26^th May 2005

Chapter 1 Introductory provisions

§ 1. Scope

These Appropriations Regulations apply to the Fiscal Budget and the State Accounts including the National Insurance Scheme.

§ 2. Exceptions to the provisions in the Appropriations Regulations

Exceptions to the provisions in the Appropriations Regulations in individual cases require an explicit decision by the Storting.

Chapter 2 Basic principles of the Fiscal Budget

§ 3. Which expenditures and revenues the Fiscal Budget shall include

The Fiscal Budget is adopted for the calendar year.

The Fiscal Budget shall include all government expenditures and revenues relating to activities and measures whose expenditures and revenues are determined by the Storting’s appropriations resolution. Appropriations shall be based on a realistic estimate of expenditures and revenues.

Expenditures and revenues shall be included in the Fiscal Budget for the year in which it is assumed the payment will be made, with the exception that follows from § 7 second paragraph on depreciation.

Expenditures and revenues shall be recorded in the Fiscal Budget as gross amounts, with the exception that follows from § 7 first paragraph. The King may however issue provisions on net budgeting in connection with the replacement of equipment.

§ 4. How the Fiscal Budget is codified

The Fiscal Budget shall be divided into chapters and items.

Each chapter shall comprise one or more items of expenditure or revenue which relate to the same purpose. As far as possible, appropriations in one chapter should only be at the disposal of one public agency or a homogeneous group of public agencies.

Expenditure items shall be divided by category as follows:

1. the state’s own operating expenditures.
2. new building, construction, etc.
3. transfers to others.
4. loans, public debt, etc.

Revenue items shall be divided by category as follows:

1. sale of goods and services.
2. revenues in connection with new building, construction, etc.
3. transfers from others.
4. repayments, etc.

The King may issue further provisions regarding which expenditures and revenues shall fall within the individual categories.

§ 5. Appropriations resolutions

Appropriations resolutions shall be linked to each individual expenditure and revenue item.

Expenditure appropriations may not be exceeded or used for purposes other than those determined by the Storting. Exceptions to this require authority in §§ 11 or 12, or that the appropriations resolution includes the key words:

1. “appropriation estimate”, which gives the authority to exceed the Budget appropriation against subsequent submissions to the Storting. The key words may be added for appropriations in which expenditure requirements are a result of provisions set by the Storting.
2. “may be linked below”, which gives the authority to exceed the Budget appropriation the key words refer to against corresponding savings in the Budget appropriation referred from.

Unused expenditure appropriations may not be transferred to the following fiscal year with the following exceptions:

1. unused operating appropriations may be transferred to the following fiscal year if they amount to no more than five per cent of the appropriation.
2. appropriations resolutions that include the key words “may be transferred” give the authority to transfer unused appropriations to subsequent fiscal years. The key words may be added to appropriations for building, construction, materials and separate measures where the rate of disbursement may be uncertain.

§ 6. Resolutions relating to obligations for future fiscal years

The state may only incur obligations that shall first be covered after the end of the fiscal year when the Storting has given its specific consent to this. Consent may only be given for the fiscal year in question and shall be limited upwards to a fixed amount.

The King may nevertheless issue provisions that give the right to enter into rental contracts and contracts to purchase services beyond the fiscal year. The contracts must apply to the normal operation of the activities of the state, and it must be possible to cover expenditures in connection with the contracts without changing the level of appropriations for the Budget item in question throughout the entire contract period.

§ 7. Special rules for state-owned enterprises and the state’s direct economic engagement in the petroleum sector

For state-owned enterprises and the state’s direct economic engagement in the petroleum sector, the net operating profit shall be entered in the appropriation.

The net operating profit shall include depreciations of entered capital assets and interest on state capital and balances with the Treasury.

Chapter 3 The King’s Fiscal Budget proposal

§ 8. Deadlines for the King’s Fiscal Budget proposal

The King’s Fiscal Budget proposal for the next fiscal year shall be submitted to the Storting within six days after the opening of the Storting. The appurtenant appendices with a more detailed account of the Budget proposal shall be submitted at the same time.

Additions or changes to the Budget proposal must be submitted no later than 10^th November. Proposals concerning changes to the Budget proposal’s balance made necessary by the additional proposals must also be submitted within this time limit.

§ 9. Explanation of the appropriations proposals

The content of and reasons for the appropriations proposals shall be explained.

The intended results shall be described. Details about the results obtained during the previous fiscal year and other accounting information of significance shall be given for the assessment of the appropriations proposals for the next fiscal year.

Chapter 4 Implementation of the Fiscal Budget

§ 10. Administration of the given appropriations

Expenditure appropriations shall be administered in accordance with § 5 and in such a way that the resource use and measures efficiently achieve the intended results.

Grants or loans to public or private sector activities that are not otherwise subject to state control shall be conditional on the grant manager’s capacity to monitor that the funding is being used in accordance with the conditions. 

§ 11. Changes to the Budget during the fiscal year

If, during the fiscal year, an unforeseen and necessary state expenditure which cannot be covered by a given appropriation arises, a proposal to the Storting may be put forward for a supplementary appropriation, or consent may be given to incur expenditures that are not covered by the given appropriations in accordance with paragraphs two and three below. At the end of the fiscal year, the changes to the Budget shall be summarized in a separate proposition on a new balance of the Budget.

The King in Council may, under the terms referred to in paragraph one, consent to expenditures being incurred which are not covered by the given appropriations for up to ten million Norwegian kroner within a specific expenditure item. The same applies to larger sums if it is unavoidably necessary to incur expenditures before the Storting can grant a supplementary appropriation. In cases referred to in the second sentence, proposals for a supplementary appropriation must be submitted as soon as possible, and until the Storting has granted a new appropriation, the expenditures must be limited to that which is strictly necessary.

The King may decide that the Government may consent to incurring expenditures which are not covered by the given appropriations for matters that relate to lower sums and are not of a principled character.

The King may also issue provisions that permit exceeding:

1. operating appropriations against corresponding additional revenues.
2. investment appropriations against corresponding operating appropriations savings in the same Budget chapter.
3. operating appropriations of up to five per cent for investment purposes against corresponding savings during the next three fiscal years.

For consent to incur state obligations in future fiscal years, cf. § 6, the provisions in the first, second and third paragraphs apply accordingly wherever appropriate.

§ 12. Emergency powers

When the nation is at war or when war threatens or when national independence or security is at risk, the King may grant the County Governor and other local administrative bodies the authority to meet unforeseen expenditures that are not covered by given appropriations when this must happen before such authority can be granted under § 11. Even if authority from the King does not yet exist, the County Governor may still incur such expenditures when it is unavoidably necessary to protect critical societal interests.

Chapter 5 The State Accounts

§ 13. The State Accounts

The State Accounts shall contain an appropriations account and a capital account.

Under each Budget item, the appropriations account shall show recognized expenditures and revenues, amounts transferred from previous years, the total appropriation in the fiscal year, and amounts to be transferred to the next year.

The capital account shall provide an overview of the state’s and social security’s assets and liabilities, and show the correspondence with the appropriations account.

In connection with the State Accounts, overviews shall be prepared showing where:

1. consent has been given to exceed the Budget.
2. consent has been given to incur state obligations in future fiscal years in connection with the ordering of materials, etc.; commitments for grants, loans and guarantees; and the obligations that have been incurred in accordance with the consent.
3. consent has been given to the raising of loans, what the state has borrowed, and changes to the national debt.

The report on the State Accounts shall be sent to the Storting as soon as the accounts are available.

In connection with the appropriations account, the ministries shall explain to the Office of the Auditor General insignificant discrepancies between the appropriations figures and the accounting figures.

The King may issue supplementary provisions on the keeping of the State Accounts.

Chapter 6 Administration of the cash reserve

§ 14. The cash reserve

The Treasury’s cash reserves shall be placed as a current account deposit in Norges Bank, and shall only be used in accordance with specific appropriations or with special consent from the Storting. However, the King may decide that parts of the cash reserve may be:

1. placed in other banks when it is necessary to depart from the state’s consolidated account scheme for reasons of efficient management of responsibilities, and such deposits do not exceed what is needed for the immediate future.
2. used for financial transactions whose purpose is to reduce the state’s financial expenditures or to safeguard monetary policy objectives.

Chapter 7 Entry into force

§ 15. Entry into force

The Regulations enter into force on 1st January 2006. At this point, the Appropriations Regulations of 19th November 1959 are revoked.