New Finance Act Introduced

Finance Minister Graham Steele introduced a new Finance Act today, April 19, to reflect current financial practices.

"The Provincial Finance Act came into existence in 1942 and, while there have been piecemeal amendments over the years, this is the first time in over forty years the act, as a whole, has been amended," said Mr. Steele. "The focus of these changes is to modernize the act."

The changes are intended to bring clarity to the act by updating language to reflect current practices.

Since the last revision of the Provincial Finance Act the province has adopted generally accepted accounting principles for the public sector. The language of the act has been updated to be consistent with those principles.

The Finance Act also provides clarity about the sources of spending authority and when each source is required.

The repeal of the existing Provincial Finance Act and the introduction of the new Finance Act are effective August 1.

Information on the Finance Act is available on line at www.gov.ns.ca.