Prior before the implementation of the Treasury Single Account, the federal government, National Daily has gathered paid monthly bank charges amounting to a whooping N4.7bn on its funds lodged in various banks in the country.
Accountant General of the Federation, Ali Ahmed Idris, disclosed this at the opening session of a 2-day retreat on the TSA in Abuja.
Idris described the implementation of the TSA as one of the success in the management of public finances, noting that over 20,000 accounts belonging to Ministries, Department and Agencies with Deposit Money Banks have been closed in the two years, and funds totaling N5.24trn moved into the Treasury Single Accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“The issuance of TSA circular in August, 2015, coupled with the political will and enforcement, enabled us to achieve considerable progress on the TSA implementation. As at the 10th of February, 2017, the total inflow of funds through the mop-up and direct debits by the Central Bank of Nigeria amounted to N5.24trn.”
The event which was attended by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal among other top government officials had as its theme, “One year anniversary of Treasury Single Account: Benefits, challenges and way forward.”
The TSA is a platform which was used by the government to unify all its accounts by ensuring that all monies belonging to the federal government are kept with the Central Bank of Nigeria.
He explained that through the policy, the government has been able to block leakages and abuse which had characterised the public sector before its commencement in October 2015.
Apart from blocking leakages, Idris said the TSA initiative has assisted the government to overcome the burden of indiscriminate borrowings by MDAs thus saving government a lot of bank charges associated with these borrowings.
The initiative which took off fully in September 2015 had been complied with by over 900 agencies of government.