Ministry of Finance (Barrayar)
 Logo of the Ministry of Finance | |
| Ministry overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | January 6, 2859 |
| Type | Ministry |
| Jurisdiction | Government of Barrayar |
| Headquarters | Treasury Building, Vorbarr Sultana |
| Employees | 1,501,000 |
| Annual budget | IM 5,085,430,000 |
| Minister responsible |
|
| Parent department | Council of Ministers |
The Ministry of Finance of the Empire of Barrayar (MINFIN) is one of the most important government offices in the Barrayaran Empire. The MINFIN, at the all-planets level, was established in the immediate aftermaths of the conquest of Komarr, and was based upon the Ministry for Finance of the Barrayaran Imperium. The Ministry is led by the Minister of Finance, who is appointed by the Emperor, after consultation with the Prime Minister, if present. The minister is a member of the Council of Ministers.
The ministry is very centralised; it prepares the state budget in a joint process with its Komarran and Sergyaran branches.
Duties and responsibilities
The Ministry of Finance prepares the draft of the State Budget and bears responsibility for the fulfilment of the State Budget, both for receipts and for expenditures.
As nearly all organisations have some sort of financial aspects, the Ministry of Finance sets standards and rules for accounting and bookkeeping. It also has the power to issue regulations for the detailed application of the tax legislation. The Ministry of Finance usually exercises its powers jointly with other government agencies, but it also participates in the setting of salaries and the fulfillment of the plans.
The finance ministry starts the budget preparation process by preparing instructions, forms and schedules for the upcoming state budget and prepared a preliminary balance of revenues and expenditures using data estimated by the stastic and planning institutions. This preliminary budget is then sent, together with instructions, to the ministries and ministries of finance of Komarr and Sergyar. The central branches of the Ministry of then prepare a budget estimate The state budget is conceived after the Ministry negotiated both an official compromise with the Northern Finance departments and a unofficial compromise with its planetary branches and both Komarr and Sergyar are given their own state budget. Finally, the Council of Counts votes on the state budget which, if it receives enough support, would become policy.
Organisation
The leading office of the ministry is the Minister of Finance, the head of the ministry. The offices of First Deputy Minister of Finance are the ministry's second-in-command. There are several Deputy Ministers of Finance, each of them focusing their political responsibility in one specific area; each of them is led by the relevant President of Department.
Departments
The Ministry is subdivided into nineteen Departments.
- Department of Revision and Control
- Department Against Misappropriation of State Property
- Department of Budgetary policy and methodology
- Department of Tax policy and customs schedule
- Department of State debt and state financial assets
- Department of Financial policy
- Department of District Budgets
- Department of Komarran Budget
- Department of Sergyaran Budget
- Department of regulation of state financial control, auditing, accounting and records
- Law Department
- Administrative Department
- Department of budgetary policy in the sphere of military and law enforcement service and the state order defence
- Department of budgetary policy in the sphere of social welfare and science
- Department of budgetary policy in the sphere of state management, judicial and public service
- Department of budgetary policy in the sphere of transport, roads, natural resources and agriculture
- Department of budgetary policy in the sphere of innovation, civil industry, energetics, communication and public-private partnership
- Department of development and execution of Imperial budget
- Department of information technologies in the sphere of budgeting and state and local finance management
Department of Revision and Control
The most important department of the Ministry of Finance is the Department of Revision and Control. The President of the Department of Revision and Control is recommended by the Minister of Finance and approved by the Emperor; the Head of the Department of Revision and Control for Komarr and Sergyar was recommended by the relevant Minister of Finance and approved by the Emperor.
The Department of Revision and Control of the Ministry of Finance enforces financial discipline by observance of laws, supervising financial discipline, controlling the implementation of the state budget, controlling the activities of financial organs, controlling the national insurance of the workers, examining the activities of the Central Bank, controlling the audit functions of the internal financial control and controlling the activities of the chief and his senior accountants.
The Department of Revision and Control of the Ministries of Finance of Komarr and Sergyar control the implementation of the national budget of the local counterparts. The departments also exercise control over enterprises and institutions directly subordinate to the government.
Department Against Misappropriation of State Property
The Department Against Misappropriation of State Property is the Barrayaran financial police. They are responsible for the regulation of economic laws fight against theft of State property in the organizations and institutions of state commerce, consumer, industrial and individual co-operatives, savings banks and procurement agencies, as well as to fight against speculation.