State of Emergency provides access to Treasury Funds

Apia, Samoa – 30 September 2025 – A State of Emergency is now in force in Samoa “commencing 30 September 2025 until 29 October 2025, for the sole purpose of issuing out of the Treasury Fund such money as is necessary to meet the economic emergency.”

The proclamation, signed by the Head of State, Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi 11 on 26 September was issued under Article 105 of the Constitution of the Independent State of Samoa.

The proclamation said that after consultation with Cabinet, as set out in F.K. (25) 36, the Head of State was satisfied that a grave emergency exists whereby the economic life of Samoa is threatened by an internal disturbance (“economic emergency”) caused by the lack of lawful authority to issue money of the Treasury Fund, which has arisen due to the failure to pass an Appropriation Bill for the current financial year.

When the budget failed to pass in May this year, the caretaker government had been operating on 25% of the previous budget which came to around $250M tala.

Last Friday, the Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Mulipola Anarosa Ale Molio’o told the media that when the new government took over on 16 September, the funds for the salary item were only enough to pay one more week of the public servants’ salaries, not including overtime that had been withheld for several months.

The situation prompted the Government to advise the Head of State to activate Article 105 of the Constitution to ensure public servants get paid as well to fund other government operations while the Ministry of Finance worked on a budget to be tabled in Parliament soon to fund operations until the main budget in June 2026.

Mulipola told the media that it was unlikely that the State of Emergency would be extended after the 29 of October as Parliament should have passed a budget by then.

Mulipola named the priorities identified by Cabinet to be funded by the Emergency Budget, including the Public Servants salaries, overtime, pensions for the elderly, benefits for people with disabilities, overseas medical treatment, contractual projects, government scholarships program, pharmaceutical supplies, government and ministry operations and the agricultural projects at Atele and Savaii.