Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2023)

2.   Interpretation

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   (1)   In this Act —

“Accountant General” has the meaning assigned under the Public Finance Management Act;

“agent” means a person who is appointed under section 4(1)(a);

“Agreement” means the Agreement establishing the Eastern Caribbean Securities Regulatory Commission made on the 24^th day of November, 2000, the text of which is set out in the Schedule to the Securities Act;

“annual auction calendar” means the annual auction calendar under section 11(2)(a)(iv);

“approved Strategy” means the Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy approved under section 9(a);

“Assistant Director, Debt and Investment” means the public officer who is appointed by the Public Service Commission to hold the office of Assistant Director, Debt and Investment in the Department;

“book entry” means the record of the holding and ownership of Government securities in a non-certificated form or non-physical form through a computerized system that is established and maintained by the Department or an agent of the Department;

“borrowing” means to obtain or receive money on a Government debt instrument for public services with an agreement that the money is repaid;

“Borrowing Plan” means the Borrowing Plan under section 14;

“budget” has the meaning assigned under section 2 of the Public Finance Management Act;

“Central Government” —

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   (a)     means a ministry, a department or an agency of Government;

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   (b)     does not include a statutory body;

“Central Government debt” —

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   (a)     means all Central Government outstanding stock of direct contractual liabilities;

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   (b)     includes —

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      (i)     advances,

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      (ii)     arrears,

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      (iii)     compensation claims,

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      (iv)     Government securities,

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      (v)     loans,

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      (vi)     overdrafts,

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      (vii)     promissory notes, and

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      (viii)     payables;

“Chairperson” means the Chairperson appointed under section 18(1)(a);

“clearing agency” has the meaning assigned under the Securities Act;

“Committee” means the Public Debt Management Advisory Committee appointed under section 17;

“Comptroller of Inland Revenue” means the Comptroller under the Income Tax Act;

“Consolidated Fund” means the Consolidated Fund under section 77 of the Constitution of Saint Lucia;

“debt financing” means financing through Government borrowing;

“debt management activities” includes —

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   (a)     Government borrowing;

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   (b)     Government guarantee;

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   (c)     Government on-lending;

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   (d)     any other method used by the Government to reduce or pay debts;

“Department” means the Department responsible for finance;

“Deputy Chairperson” means the Deputy Chairperson appointed under section 18(1)(b);

“Deputy Director of Finance, Debt and Investment” means the public officer who is appointed by the Public Service Commission to hold the office of Deputy Director of Finance, Debt and Investment in the Department;

“Director of Finance” has the meaning assigned under the Public Finance Management Act;

“Director of Audit” means the public officer who is referred to under sections 84 and 90 of the Constitution of Saint Lucia;

“Eastern Caribbean Central Bank” means the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank established under Article 3 of the Agreement establishing the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank made on the 5^th day of July, 1983, the text of which is set out in the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Agreement Act;

“Eastern Caribbean Central Securities Depository Limited” means the wholly-owned subsidiary of the Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange Limited that is —

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   (a)     incorporated in and under the Companies Act, 1996 of St. Christopher and Nevis; and

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   (b)     licensed and regulated by the Eastern Caribbean Securities Regulatory Commission under the Securities Act;

“Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange Limited” means the Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange Limited established under section 5 of the Securities Act;

“Economic Development Division” means the unit within the Department responsible for economic development;

“financial year” has the meaning assigned under the Public Finance Management Act;

“Government agency” has the meaning assigned under the Public Finance Management Act;

“Government borrowing” has the meaning assigned under the Public Finance Management Act;

“Government debt” means money borrowed and to be repaid by Central Government;

“Government debt instrument” means —

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   (a)     a financial claim that requires payment of interest or principal, by the Government to the creditor, at a future date;

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   (b)     includes —

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      (i)     special drawing rights, currency and deposits,

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      (ii)     debt securities,

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      (iii)     a loan, insurance, pension and standardized guarantee schemes,

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      (iv)     other accounts payable and receivable;

“Government debt management” means the process of establishing and executing a plan for managing the Government debt, in order to raise funding at the lowest possible cost over a medium-to-long-term, that is consistent with a prudent degree of risk;

“Government guarantee” means an explicit commitment by the Government to pay for a loan obligation of the borrower in a case where the borrower of the guarantee is unable to pay;

“Government on-lending” means the procedure by which Government borrows funds and lends the proceeds to a statutory body as credit;

“Government securities” —

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   (a)     means a type of debt security that is issued in the name of and on behalf of Central Government;

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   (b)     includes —

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      (i)     debentures,

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      (ii)     treasury bills,

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      (iii)     treasury bonds,

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      (iv)     treasury notes;

“holder” —

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   (a)     means the person entered in the register as the holder of Government securities or Government guarantee;

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   (b)     includes the personal representatives of a person referred to under paragraph (a);

“investor” means an individual, a person, group, broker dealer, organisation, firm or company that purchases Government securities;

“licensed securities exchange” means a market, exchange or facility which is licensed under the Securities Exchange Act;

“long-term” means a period exceeding 5 years;

“medium-term” means a period not exceeding 5 years;

“Minister” means the Minister responsible for finance;

“non-guaranteed debt” means public debt contracted by a borrower, without approval of Parliament;

“participating Government” means a Government which is party to the Agreement;

“paying agent” includes a corporate trust, trust department of a bank or trust company that makes principal or interest payments on behalf of the Government;

“Permanent Secretary” means the Permanent Secretary within the Department unless otherwise specified;

“Public Accounts” has the meaning assigned under section 84 of the Constitution of Saint Lucia;

“public debt” includes —

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   (a)     Central Government debt;

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   (b)     a Government guarantee;

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   (c)     a non-guaranteed debt;

“public debt statistical bulletins” means the document that provides —

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   (a)     a brief overview of the Government's debt position on a quarterly basis and debt reported by a statutory body;

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   (b)     data on funding performance against benchmarks, government debt service variances, risk performance and other public debt related matters;

“public debt sustainability analysis” means the analysis under section 15;

“public sector” means Central Government, a statutory body and a state-owned enterprise;

“publish” in relation to a document, includes —

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   (a)     publishing a document in a newspaper, Gazette or other publication of general circulation;

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   (b)     publishing an abridged or summary version of a document without losing the core content of the document;

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   (c)     making a document available for reference at a public library, Government agency or in the archives of that Government agency;

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   (d)     posting a document on the website of the Government;

“real gross domestic product” means an inflation-adjusted measure that reflects the value of all goods and services produced by an economy in a given year, expressed in base-year prices;

“register” —

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   (a)     in relation to Government securities, means the Register of Government Securities under section 31;

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   (b)     in relation to Government guarantees, means the Register of Government Guarantees under section 50;

“repealed Acts” means the Acts repealed under section 67;

“Research and Policy Division” means the unit within the Department responsible for research and policy;

“securities exchange” —

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   (a)     means a market, exchange, place or facility which provides for bringing together on a regular basis purchasers and sellers of securities, and sets rules for the execution of securities transactions or for the negotiation or conclusion of sales and purchases of securities;

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   (b)     does not include —

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      (i)     the office or facilities of a member of a licensed securities exchange, or

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      (ii)     the office or facilities of a clearing agency or securities depository;

“securities depository” means a company or a financial institution holding securities with the responsibility for the safekeeping of securities and settlement of securities transfers in the post-trading stage;

“Securities Registry” means the register kept by the Eastern Caribbean Central Securities Depository Limited;

“state-owned enterprise” means an entity whether or not incorporated under the Companies Act being —

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   (a)     a company in which the Government or an agency of the Government, by the holding of shares, is in a position to direct the policy of that company on the governing board of the company; or

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   (b)     a company, Board or Authority established under an enactment that recovers a significant proportion of its operating costs through charges on users;

“statutory body” has the meaning assigned under the Public Finance Management Act;

“Strategy” means the Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy for management of Government debt over the medium-term and prepared under section 13;

“treasury bill” means a Government debt instrument with a maturity not exceeding one year;

“treasury bond” means a Government debt security that earns periodic interest with a maturity that exceeds 5 years;

“treasury note” means a Government debt security with a fixed interest rate at a maturity of over one year and not exceeding 5 years;

“Unit” means the Debt and Investment Management Unit within the Department.

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   (2)   A reference in this Act to borrowing, on-lending or the issuance of guarantees is, unless otherwise specified or the context otherwise requires, a reference to borrowing, on-lending and the issuance of guarantees relating to public debt.