17.1 There shall be established a budget of the Organisation.
17.2 All expenses of the Organisation shall be approved in respect of each financial year by the OECS Authority and shall be chargeable to the budget.
17.3 Revenues of the budget shall be derived from annual contributions by the Member States and from such other sources as may be determined by the OECS Authority.
17.4 The budget shall be in balance as to revenues and expenditures.
17.5 A draft budget for each financial year shall be prepared by the Director-General for the approval of the OECS Authority and transmitted to the OECS Authority through the OECS Commission.
17.6 A transitional budget of the Organisation for the first 12 months after this Treaty comes into force shall apply pending —
(a) the adoption by the OECS Authority of the first budget of the Organisation under this Treaty and pursuant to the preceding paragraphs; or
(b) the exercise by the OECS Authority of its powers relating to the financial arrangements of the Organisation under Article 23;
whichever first occurs.
17.7 The transitional budget of the Organisation shall equal such part of the amount budgeted for the last completed financial year under the Treaty of Basseterre 1981 as was equal to the approved contribution of the Member States of this Treaty to that budget approved for that year under the Treaty of Basseterre 1981, and the heads of approved expenditure and the allocation of expenditure among those heads shall parallel mutatis mutandis those approved for that year under the Treaty of Basseterre 1981.
17.8 There shall be special budgets to meet extraordinary expenditures of the Organisation.
17.9 Each Member State shall pay regularly and, subject to Article 23, in advance its annual contribution to the budget of the Organisation and pay promptly its contribution to any special budget under the preceding paragraph.