Cabinet empowered to authorize single-source procurement for any project

An amendment made on Sunday to the Public Finance Regulation now allows the government to award any and all government contracts without a competitive bidding process as long as it receives approval from the cabinet or a committee formed by the cabinet.

The amendment was made to the provisions on single-source procurement.

As such, Article 10.20 (b-1) of the Public Finance Regulation now states that relevant state institutions may carry out projects pertaining to basic needs of the people, enhance their quality of living, and security services projects under single-source procurement with authorization from the cabinet or a cabinet committee.

Single-source procurement allows a buyer to forgo a competitive bidding process and choose to purchase goods or services from a single vendor, even though other capable suppliers exist.

The amendment allows government contracts deemed as pertaining to basic public services, enhancement of quality of living, and security services projects to be awarded without an open and competitive bidding process.

The Public Finance Regulation had previously allowed single-source procurement for government contracts only under exceptional circumstances where there is no time to carry out a competitive bidding process, or where multiple bids aren’t deemed likely due to the value of the contract.

The move comes with the government hit with criticism for awarding many of the government contracts to state-owned enterprises instead of private contractors.