SECTION 86.- The purpose of the government accounting system is to:

a) Systematically record all transactions which produce and affect the economic/financial condition of the jurisdictions and entities;

b) Process and produce financial information needed for decision-marking by the officials responsible for public financial management and for any third parties concerned;

c) Present accounting information and appropriate supporting documentation in an orderly manner so as to facilitate the tasks of control and audit, whether internal or external;

d) Allow the integration into the national accounts system of any information generated and processed which concerns the public sector.

SECTION 87.- The government accounting system shall have the following general characteristics:

a) It shall be a single and uniform common system applicable to all national public sector agencies;

b) It shall permit integration of budgetary, Treasury, and asset and liability information for each specific entity, and in turn, of such information with the national accounts;

c) It shall show the status of budget implementation, the movements and the balance of the Treasury, and the changes, composition and financial condition of the net assets of the public entities;

d) It shall provide the means for determining the const of public operations;

e) It shall be based on generally accepted accounting principles and standards applicable to the public sector.

SECTION 88.- The National Accounting Office shall be the supervisory agency of the government accounting system and, as such, it shall prescribe, put into operation, and maintain such system throughout the national public sector.

SECTION 89.- The head of the National Accounting Office shall be the Accountant General assisted by a Deputy Accountant General, both appointed by the National executive Branch. To be eligible for the position of Accountant General and Deputy Accountant General, incumbents must hold a university degree as a certified public accountant with not less than five (5) years’ experience in public sector accounting and finance.

SECTION 90.- The accountant General shall prescribe the internal rules for the National Accountant Office and shall assign the duties to be carried out by the Deputy Accountant General.

SECTION 91.- The National Accounting Office shall have the following powers and duties:

a) To set government accounting standards for the entire national public sector. Within such framework, it shall prescribe the accounting methods to be applied as well as the reporting frequency, structure and attributes of the financial statements to be produces by public entities;

b) To ensure that any accounting systems prescribe by it can be effectively developed and implemented by the entities in accordance with their legal nature, operational characteristics, and management information requirements;

c) To provide technical advice and assistance to national public sector entities in implementing any standards and methods prescribed by it;

c) To coordinate such processes as are required to be instituted for keeping a primary accounting record of the activities performed by central jurisdictions and by each of the remaining entities comprising the national public sector;

d) To keep the general accounts of the central administration, consolidating jurisdictional service data and performing any necessary adjustments and closing of transactions, and to produce the annual financial statements to be submitted to the General Audit Office;

e) To administer a financial reporting system capable of providing an ongoing picture of the budget, cash, and asset and liability management, as well as of the operating, economic and financial results of the central administration, of each decentralized agency, and of the national public sector as a whole;

f) To draw up the national public sector economic accounts in accordance with the national accounts system;

g) To prepare, on an annual basis, the investment account provided for in Section 67, subsection 7, of the National Constitution submit it to the National Congress;

h) To maintain a general file of the national administration’s financial documentation;

i) To carry out such other duties as may be assigned to it by regulation.

SECTION 92.- Within four (4) moths after the close of a fiscal year, national public sector entities other than the central administration shall submit to the National Accounting Office the financial statements for the past reporting period accompanied by any appropriate notes and schedules.

SECTION 93.- The National Accounting Office shall organize and maintain an ongoing intragovernmental debt-offsetting system to minimize the number of debit and credit entries between national public and sector entities.

SECTION 94.- The National Accounting Office shall coordinate with the provinces in implementation, within the provinces’ respective jurisdictions, of the financial reporting system developed by it for purposes of producing consolidated information en the entire Argentine public sector.

SECTION 95.- The investment account, which shall be submitted annually to the National Congress by June 30 of the year immediately following the relevant reporting year, shall include al least the following:

a) Statements of the central administration budget execution as of fiscal year-end;

b) Statements showing the movements and the balance of the central administration Treasury;

c) A current statement of public debt, including foreign and domestic, direct and indirect debt;

d) Financial statements of the central administration;

e) A report showing the consolidated public sector financial performance during the year and the respective operating, economic and financial results.

The Investment Account shall, in addition, include a comment on the following:

a) The degree of progress achieved in meeting the objectives and targets set forth in the budget;

b) The behaviour of cost patterns and efficiency ratios of public sector production;

c) National public sector financial performance.