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FIRST ITEM ON THE AGENDA

Programme and Budget for 1998-99

Regular budget account and Working Capital Fund

1. Information on the position of 1998-99 income and expenditure as at 31 October 1999 is submitted herewith. Additional information on the position of member States in relation to the receipt of contributions and additional 1998-99 expenditure items approved by the Governing Body is provided in tables in Appendix I: tables 1 and 2 summarize and give details of member States' contributions for 1999, the amounts received and credited for current contributions, and arrears of contributions up to 31 October 1999 and the amounts due as at that date, while table 3 (Appendix II) gives details of additional 1998-99 expenditure items approved by the Governing Body.

Budgetary income and expenditure

2. Under the system of Swiss franc assessments combined with forward purchasing of US dollar requirements introduced in 1990-91, budgetary income⁽¹⁾  is accounted for in US dollars at the ILO budget rate of exchange for the financial period, and Swiss franc expenditure is recorded in US dollars at the same rate of exchange. US dollar budgetary income and expenditure figures reported herein accordingly result from the conversion of Swiss franc income and expenditure to US dollars at the 1998-99 ILO budget rate of exchange of 1.46 Swiss francs to the US dollar. Budgetary income and expenditure as at 31 October 1999 were as follows:

	Swiss francs		US dollars
Income
Assessed contributions for 1998-99	498 547 593		341 470 954
Arrears of contributions from previous financial periods	194 436 822		133 175 906
Cash surplus for 1996-97	23 822 826		16 317 004
Total income	716 807 241		490 963 864
Expenditure			387 618 026
Excess of income over expenditure as at 31 October 1999			1 03 345 838

3. Total income received for the 1998-99 biennium amounts to 716,807,241 Swiss francs which is some 14,474,241 Swiss francs higher than the income budget for 1998-99. It is thus expected that there will be a cash surplus for 1998-99 of a minimum of 14.47 million Swiss francs, but this will increase by the amount of any further income received during the remainder of 1999 and of any underspending of the expenditure budget.

Contributions of member States

4. Total assessed contributions for 1999 amount to 338,577,629 Swiss francs, the same level as in 1998. Section I of table 1 indicates that, at 31 October 1999, assessed contributions for 1999 received from or credited to member States⁽²⁾  totalled 226,909,692 Swiss francs, which represented 67.0 per cent of the contributions assessed. At the same date in 1998, 63.1 per cent of the 1998 contributions had been collected. At 31 October 1999, 82 member States had settled their 1999 contributions in full, 12 member States had made partial payments while 80 others had made no payments against 1999 contributions. This compared with 81, 12 and 81 member States in the same situation respectively at the same date in 1998.

5. Arrears of contributions received in 1999 to 31 October 1999 totalled 40,359,602 Swiss francs, bringing total contributions collected in 1999 at 31 October 1999 to 267,269,294 Swiss francs.

6. At 31 October 17 States (Angola, Bahamas, Belarus, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Chile, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Guyana, Honduras, Kenya, Latvia, Malta, Nicaragua, Panama and Slovakia) had made payments against their 2000 contributions.

Position in relation to paragraph 4 of article 13 of the Constitution

7. Table 2 shows that, on 31 October 1999, the arrears of contributions of Afghanistan, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Central African Republic, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Moldova, Paraguay, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Tajikistan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Yugoslavia equalled or exceeded the amount of the contributions due from them for the past two full years (1997-98). Each of these member States had therefore lost the right to vote, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 4 of article 13 of the Constitution of the Organization, subject to the special arrangements described below.

8. Albania, Belarus, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Chad, Dominican Republic, Latvia, Poland and Viet Nam are permitted to vote in accordance with paragraph 4 of article 13 of the Constitution of the Organization under financial arrangements approved by the International Labour Conference at its 81st (1994), 86th (1998), 82nd (1995), 85th (1997), 87th (1999), 85th (1997), 87th (1999), 75th (1988) and 81st (1994) Sessions respectively.

Working Capital Fund

9. The nominal level and the cash level of the Working Capital Fund at 31 October 1999 both stood at 35 million Swiss francs.

Possible transfers within the 1998-99 expenditure budget

10. Article 16 of the Financial Regulations provides that transfers from one item to another in the same part of the expenditure budget may be effected by special resolutions of the Governing Body.

11. At this stage it is not possible to estimate accurately and in detail the final level of expenditure under each budget item. It is possible, however, that for some items expenditure may exceed the budgetary provision, offset by savings under other budget items. The specific items between which transfers might need to be made and the exact amounts will be known only when final expenditure figures are available at the end of January 2000. The Director-General, following the usual practice, therefore proposes to submit a detailed list of any necessary transfers to the Chairperson of the Governing Body for approval at that time.

12. The Committee may wish to recommend that the Governing Body authorize the Director-General to submit proposals for any necessary transfers within the 1998-99 expenditure budget to the Chairperson for approval, in accordance with the usual practice, prior to the closing of the 1998-99 accounts in January 2000, subject to confirmation of such approval by the Governing Body at its 277th Session (March 2000).

Geneva, 4 November 1999.

Point for decision: Paragraph 12.

1. Budgetary income includes contributions received in respect of the current and earlier biennia. Exceptionally, in 1998-99, it also includes the cash surplus for 1996-97 of 23,822,826 Swiss francs. At its 85th Session (1997), the International Labour Conference decided, in derogation of article 18 of the Financial Regulations, to transfer 25,177,742 Swiss francs from the expected budgetary surplus to budgetary income for 1998, and that, should the said budgetary surplus be less than 25,177,742 Swiss francs, arrears of contributions received should be used to finance the income budget subject to the resolution adopted by the 82nd Session (1995) concerning the utilization of arrears of contributions to cover budgetary deficits.

2. Amounts credited against 1999 contributions represent the distribution to eligible member States of incentive scheme credits and net premium earned in prior periods. Details are given in footnote 1 to table 1.

Appendix I

Table 1. Assessed contributions of member States and amounts due by States
for prior periods of membership in the ILO (in Swiss francs)

Summary

			Amount due as at 1 January 1999		Amount received or credited (1) to 31 October 1999		Amount due as at 31 October 1999
I.	Assessed contributions for 1999
	Assessed with the budget		338 577 629		226 909 692		111 667 937
	Total assessed contributions for 1999		338 577 629		226 909 692		111 667 937
II.	Arrears of contributions and amounts due for prior periods of membership
	A. Arrears of contributions due by member States		161 411 675		40 347 412		121 064 263
	B. Amounts due by member States for prior periods of membership in the ILO		433 718		12 190		421 528
	Total arrears of contributions and amounts due for prior periods of membership in the ILO		161 845 393		40 359 602		121 485 791
	Total		500 423 022		267 269 294		233 153 728
1 Includes amounts totalling 2,197,588 Swiss francs credited to member States in respect of the incentive scheme for 1998 (1,633,418) and 50 per cent of the net premium for 1996-97 (564,170).

Table 2. Contributions received and outstanding
Details of movements between 31 December 1998 and 31 October 1999
(in Swiss Francs)

	State	Contributions and amounts outstanding as at 31 December 1998	Assessed Contributions for 1999		Amounts received or credited to 31 October 1999 in respect of		Balance due as at 31 October 1999
			%	Amount	1999 Contributions (1)	Arrears
A. States which have settled their 1999 contributions in full
	Algeria	540,959	0.092	311,491	311,491	540,959	-
	Angola (2)	-	0.010	33,858	33,858	-	-
	Australia	-	1.459	4,939,848	4,939,848	-	-
	Austria	-	0.927	3,138,615	3,138,615	-	-
	Bahamas	-	0.015	50,787	50,787	-	-
	Bangladesh	-	0.010	33,858	33,858	-	-
	Belarus (5)	2,997,177	0.081	274,248	274,248	157,746	2,839,431
	Belgium	-	1.086	3,676,953	3,676,953	-	-
	Belize (2)	-	0.001	3,386	3,386	-	-
	Benin	-	0.002	6,772	6,772	-	-
	Botswana	-	0.010	33,858	33,858	-	-
	Bulgaria	523,961	0.019	64,330	64,330	523,961	-
	Cambodia (5)	493,853	0.001	3,386	3,386	87,929	405,924
	Canada (2)	-	2.712	9,182,225	9,182,225	-	-
	Cape Verde (2) (5)	124,251	0.002	6,772	6,772	6,539	117,712
	Chile	-	0.129	436,765	436,765	-	-
	Cyprus	-	0.033	111,731	111,731	-	-
	Colombia	-	0.107	362,278	362,278	-	-
	Côte d'Ivoire	-	0.009	30,472	30,472	-	-
	Czech Republic	-	0.119	402,907	402,907	-	-
	Denmark (2)	-	0.680	2,302,328	2,302,328	-	-
	Dominica	-	0.001	3,386	3,386	-	-
	Dominican Republic (5)	728,240	0.015	50,787	50,787	145,000	583,240
	Egypt	-	0.064	216,690	216,690	-	-
	El Salvador	-	0.012	40,629	40,629	-	-
	Eritrea	-	0.001	3,386	3,386	-	-
	Estonia	-	0.015	50,787	50,787	-	-
	Ethiopia	-	0.006	20,315	20,315	-	-
	Fiji	-	0.004	13,543	13,543	-	-
	Finland	-	0.534	1,808,004	1,808,004	-	-
	France	-	6.441	21,807,785	21,807,785	-	-
	Germany	-	9.659	32,703,213	32,703,213	-	-
	Guatemala	5,000	0.018	60,944	60,944	5,000	-
	Guyana	2,705	0.001	3,386	3,386	2,705	-
	Honduras	33,665	0.003	10,157	10,157	33,665	-
	Hungary	-	0.118	399,522	399,522	-	-
	Iceland	-	0.031	104,959	104,959	-	-
	India	-	0.294	995,418	995,418	-	-
	Ireland	-	0.221	748,257	748,257	-	-
	Italy	-	5.350	18,113,903	18,113,903	-	-
	Jamaica	-	0.006	20,315	20,315	-	-
	Japan	-	19.681	66,635,463	66,635,463	-	-
	Kenya	-	0.007	23,700	23,700	-	-
	Korea, Republic of	-	0.979	3,314,675	3,314,675	-	-
	Kuwait	-	0.132	446,922	446,922	-	-
	Latvia (5)	1,438,400	0.024	81,259	81,259	143,840	1,294,560
	Lesotho	33,575	0.002	6,772	6,772	33,575	-
	Luxembourg	-	0.067	226,847	226,847	-	-
	Malaysia	-	0.177	599,282	599,282	-	-
	Malta (2)	-	0.014	47,401	47,401	-	-
	Mauritius (2)	-	0.009	30,472	30,472	-	-
	Morocco	-	0.040	135,431	135,431	-	-
	Myanmar	-	0.008	27,086	27,086	-	-
	Namibia (2)	-	0.007	23,700	23,700	-	-
	Netherlands	-	1.606	5,437,557	5,437,557	-	-
	New Zealand	-	0.218	738,099	738,099	-	-
	Nicaragua (2)	-	0.001	3,386	3,386	-	-
	Norway	-	0.601	2,034,851	2,034,851	-	-
	Panama	-	0.013	44,015	44,015	-	-
	Poland (5)	7,118,475	0.204	690,698	690,698	790,942	6,327,533
	Qatar	-	0.032	108,345	108,345	-	-
	Romania	-	0.066	223,461	223,461	-	-
	Saint Kitts and Nevis	-	0.001	3,386	3,386	-	-
	Saint Lucia	-	0.001	3,386	3,386	-	-
	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	33,777	0.001	3,386	3,386	33,777	-
	San Marino	-	0.002	6,772	6,772	-	-
	Saudi Arabia	-	0.560	1,896,035	1,896,035	-	-
	Singapore	-	0.173	585,739	585,739	-	-
	Slovakia (2)	-	0.038	128,659	128,659	-	-
	Slovenia	-	0.060	203,147	203,147	-	-
	South Africa	-	0.360	1,218,879	1,218,879	-	-
	Spain	-	2.550	8,633,729	8,633,729	-	-
	Sri Lanka	-	0.012	40,629	40,629	-	-
	Swaziland	33,586	0.002	6,772	6,772	33,586	-
	Sweden	-	1.067	3,612,623	3,612,623	-	-
	Switzerland	-	1.196	4,049,388	4,049,388	-	-
	Thailand (2)	-	0.164	555,267	555,267	-	-
	Trinidad and Tobago	-	0.017	57,558	57,558	-	-
	United Arab Emirates	-	0.175	592,511	592,511	-	-
	United Kingdom	-	5.013	16,972,896	16,972,896	-	-
	Viet Nam (3) (5)	109,820	0.007	23,700	23,700	12,190	97,630
	Zimbabwe	33,806	0.009	30,472	30,472	33,806	-
		14,251,250	65.594	222,086,610	222,086,610	2,585,220	11,666,030
B. States which have paid part of their 1999 contributions
	Burkina Faso	32,873	0.002	6,772	919	32,873	5,853
	Gabon	-	0.015	50,787	1,854	-	48,933
	Ghana	45,190	0.007	23,700	4,230	45,190	19,470
	Indonesia	-	0.181	612,825	243,667	-	369,158
	Mexico	-	0.965	3,267,274	3,151,467	-	115,807
	Mozambique	52	0.001	3,386	3,334	52	52
	Oman	135,225	0.050	169,289	17,016	135,225	152,273
	Papua New Guinea	-	0.007	23,700	16,739	-	6,961
	Philippines	199,900	0.079	267,476	190,047	199,900	77,429
	Tunisia	85,064	0.028	94,802	10,641	85,064	84,161
	Turkey	664,979	0.433	1,466,041	1,127,272	664,979	338,769
	Yemen	-	0.010	33,858	33,261	-	597
		1,163,283	1.778	6,019,910	4,800,447	1,163,283	1,219,463
C. States which have made no payments, but have received credits towards their 1999 contributions
	Albania (3) (5)	78,832	0.003	10,157	15	-	88,974
	Bahrain	-	0.017	57,558	7	-	57,551
	Barbados	-	0.008	27,086	378	-	26,708
	China	-	0.958	3,243,574	9,017	-	3,234,557
	Costa Rica	9,628	0.016	54,172	203	-	63,597
	Democratic Republic of the Congo (4)	99,226	0.007	23,700		-	122,926
	Djibouti (4)	175,210	0.001	3,386	231	-	178,365
	Guinea	52,315	0.003	10,157	92	-	62,380
	Jordan	-	0.006	20,315	343	-	19,972
	Lao People's Democratic Republic	67,154	0.001	3,386	86	3,300	67,154
	Malawi	17,542	0.002	6,772	457	-	23,857
	Mongolia	33,801	0.002	6,772	286	-	40,287
	Nepal	-	0.004	13,543	433	-	13,110
	Paraguay (3) (4)	974,388	0.014	47,401	307	67,361	954,121
	Portugal	-	0.411	1,391,554	9,640	-	1,381,914
	Syrian Arab Republic	169,238	0.063	213,304	1,140	-	381,402
		1,677,334	1.516	5,132,837	22,635	70,661	6,716,875
D. States which have made no payments and have received  no credits towards their 1999 contributions
	Afghanistan (4)	133,320	0.003	10,157	-	-	143,477
	Antigua and Barbuda (4)	231,659	0.002	6,772	-	-	238,431
	Argentina	980,315	1.008	3,412,862	-	176,249	4,216,928
	Armenia (4)	1,847,824	0.011	37,243	-	-	1,885,067
	Azerbaijan (4)	3,740,580	0.022	74,487	-	-	3,815,067
	Bolivia	34,715	0.007	23,700	-	23,950	34,465
	Bosnia and Herzegovina (4)	452,778	0.005	16,929	-	-	469,707
	Brazil	15,164,545	1.448	4,902,604	-	4,388,800	15,678,349
	Burundi	66,861	0.001	3,386	-	33,003	37,244
	Cameroon	72,373	0.013	44,015	-	62,500	53,888
	Central African Republic (4)	164,889	0.001	3,386	-	-	168,275
	Chad (5)	290,378	0.001	3,386	-	151,673	142,091
	Comoros (4)	507,766	0.001	3,386	-	-	511,152
	Congo	1,964	0.003	10,157	-	-	12,121
	Croatia	603,873	0.035	118,502	-	-	722,375
	Cuba	486,592	0.026	88,030	-	263,440	311,182
	Ecuador	85,745	0.020	67,715	-	-	153,460
	Equatorial Guinea (4)	357,932	0.001	3,386	-	-	361,318
	Gambia	53,107	0.001	3,386	-	-	56,493
	Georgia (4)	2,901,353	0.019	64,330	-	-	2,965,683
	Greece	1,564,797	0.346	1,171,479	-	1,150,843	1,585,433
	Grenada	52,834	0.001	3,386	-	-	56,220
	Guinea-Bissau (4)	243,406	0.001	3,386	-	-	246,792
	Haiti	96,415	0.002	6,772	-	52,000	51,187
	Iran, Islamic Republic of	4,409,177	0.190	643,297	-	1,466,000	3,586,474
	Iraq (4)	4,382,778	0.044	148,974	-	-	4,531,752
	Israel	2,298,368	0.340	1,151,164	-	560,000	2,889,532
	Kazakhstan (4)	4,926,632	0.065	220,075	-	-	5,146,707
	Kyrgyzstan (4)	1,047,065	0.008	27,086	-	-	1,074,151
	Lebanon	1,254	0.016	54,172	-	-	55,426
	Liberia (4)	231,605	0.002	6,772	-	-	238,377
	Libyan Arab Jamahiriya	943,311	0.130	440,151	-	-	1,383,462
	Lithuania	464,210	0.022	74,487	-	451,826	86,871
	Madagascar	66,081	0.003	10,157	-	28,690	47,548
	Mali	-	0.002	6,772	-	-	6,772
	Mauritania	97,033	0.001	3,386	-	65,996	34,423
	Moldova, Republic of (4)	2,574,417	0.018	60,944	-	-	2,635,361
	Niger	85,480	0.002	6,772	-	24,125	68,127
	Nigeria	480,940	0.039	132,045	-	-	612,985
	Pakistan	204,509	0.058	196,375	-	190,835	210,049
	Peru	201,047	0.093	314,877	-	-	515,924
	Russian Federation	27,683,437	1.464	4,956,776	-	23,160,800	9,479,413
	Rwanda	124,261	0.001	3,386	-	114,443	13,204
	Sao Tome and Principe (4)	203,901	0.001	3,386	-	-	207,287
	Senegal	43,122	0.006	20,315	-	-	63,437
	Seychelles	73,792	0.002	6,772	-	40,276	40,288
	Sierra Leone (4)	434,888	0.001	3,386	-	10,202	428,072
	Solomon Islands (4)	198,364	0.001	3,386	-	-	201,750
	Somalia (4)	341,100	0.001	3,386	-	-	344,486
	Sudan	45,860	0.007	23,700	-	29,879	39,681
	Suriname	-	0.004	13,543	-	-	13,543
	Tajikistan (4)	554,876	0.005	16,929	-	-	571,805
	Tanzania, United Republic of	39,569	0.003	10,157	-	-	49,726
	The Former Yug. Rep. of Macedonia	33,654	0.004	13,543	-	-	47,197
	Togo (4)	219,609	0.001	3,386	-	-	222,995
	Turkmenistan (4)	767,328	0.008	27,086	-	-	794,414
	Uganda	67,197	0.004	13,543	-	27,379	53,361
	Ukraine	10,068,932	0.297	1,005,576	-	3,162,703	7,911,805
	United States	42,761,618	25.000	84,644,407	-	730,304	126,675,721
	Uruguay	134,064	0.047	159,131	-	134,064	159,131
	Uzbekistan (4)	923,420	0.036	121,888	-	-	1,045,308
	Venezuela	1,237,171	0.173	585,739	-	-	1,822,910
	Yugoslavia (4) (6)	6,175,566	0.033	111,731	-	-	6,287,297
	Zambia	71,869	0.002	6,772	-	40,458	38,183
		144,753,526	31.112	105,338,272	-	36,540,438	213,551,360
	TOTAL	161,845,393	100.000	338,577,629	226,909,692	40,359,602	233,153,728

Notes to table 2: Contributions received and outstanding

Details of movements between 31 December 1998 and 31 October 1999

1 Amounts credited against 1999 assessed contributions represent the distribution of credits to eligible member States in respect of:

		Swiss francs
The incentive scheme for 1997		1 633 418
50 per cent of the net premium earned in 1996-97		564 170
Total		2 197 588

2 States which paid their 1999 contributions before 1 January 1999.

3 Includes amounts due for prior periods of membership in the ILO.

4 Member States which, at 31 October 1999, have lost the right to vote under the provisions of paragraph 4 of the article 13 of the Constitution. Djibouti and Paraguay had been permitted to vote under the financial arrangements approved by the 85th (1997) and 78th (1991) Sessions of the International Labour Conference, but these member States have lost the right to vote because they have not respected these arrangements. Appendix II refers.

5 Albania, Belarus, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Chad, Dominican Republic, Latvia, Poland and Viet Nam are permitted to vote in accordance with paragraph 4 of article 13 of the Constitution of the Organization under financial arrangements approved by the International Labour Conference at its 81st (1994), 86th (1998), 82nd (1995), 85th (1997), 87th (1999), 85th (1997), 87th (1999), 75th (1988) and 81st (1994) Sessions respectively.

6 This refers to the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Pursuant to decisions taken by the ILO Governing Body on the basis of relevant United Nations resolutions, no State has been recognized as the continuation of that Member.

Appendix II

Member States which are two years or more in arrears
and which have lost the right to vote under paragraph 4 of article 13 of the Consitution ⁽¹⁾

State	Years partly or fully due
Afghanistan	1995-98
Antigua and Barbuda	1991-98
Armenia	1992-98
Azerbaijan	1992-98
Bosnia and Herzegovina	1993-98
Central African Republic	1994-98
Comoros	1980-98
Democratic Republic of the Congo	1996-98
Djibouti	1992-96 +1998
Equatorial Guinea	1987-98
Georgia	1993-98
Guinea-Bissau	1991-98
Iraq	1988-98
Kazakhstan	1993-98
Kyrgyzstan	1992-98
Liberia	1991-98
Moldova, Republic of	1992-98
Paraguay	1937+ 1972-90 + 1998
Sao Tome and Principe	1992-98
Sierra Leone	1983-98
Solomon Islands	1993-98
Somalia	1988-98
Tajikistan	1993-98
Togo	1992-98
Turkmenistan	1993-98
Uzbekistan	1996-98
Yugoslavia (2)	1989-98
(1) Excluding those member States which were two years or more in arrears but which had regained the right to vote because of financial arrangements approved by various Sessions of the International Labour Conference.
(2) This refers to the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Pursuant to decisions taken by the ILO Governing Body on the basis of relevant United  Nations resolutions, no State has been recognized as the continuation of that Member.

Table 3. Additional 1998-99 expenditure items approved by the Governing Body¹

Governing Body session	Item	Amount (US dollars)
268th (March 1997)	Commission of Inquiry concerning Myanmar	445 000
268th (March 1997)	Tripartite Working Party to Conduct an Evaluation of the Active Partnership Policy	15 000
270th (November 1997)	Additional funds for the Working Party on the Evaluation of the Active Partnership Policy	20 000
270th (November 1997)	Publication of the Provisional Record at the International Labour Conference	750 000
271st (March 1998)	Tripartite mission to the Republic of Korea	15 000
	Commission of Inquiry concerning Nigeria	520 000
	Additional funds for the Working Party on the Evaluation of the Active Partnership Policy	28 000
	Increasing interpretation resources for meeting of groups	351 000
	Headquarters support for the operational activities of IPEC	480 000
	Addressing the year 2000 problem in the ILO	5 600 000
272nd (June 1998)	Committee on Contract Labour	395 000
274th (March 1999)	Regional meetings: New arrangements
	-- Additional interpretation and meeting room facilities	22 000
	-- Increase duration to four days	41 250
1 All items to be financed from savings in Part I of the budget.