About N2.2 trillion Treasury Single Account (TSA) recovery will bring succor over anxiety of the 2016 budget deficit amount to N3 trillion, the Federal Government has disclosed.
Speaking at a workshop on TSA for the accountants-general of the states in Abuja, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, said the over N2.2tn, which has so far been recovered from government agencies through the TSA, would assist in reducing the volume of borrowing.
She said the current issues and challenges surrounding cash flow management had re-enforced the need to ensure that scarce resources at the disposal of the federal, state and local governments were prudently and efficiently managed.
Adeosun described the workshop as apt and timely, as it came at a time when the global economic downturn was creating challenges that demanded efficient and effective management of cash resources.
She explained that the TSA was an essential reform for any government wishing to pursue fiscal sustainability and prudent management of its resources.
Outlining some of the benefits of the TSA, the minister said it would increase accountability and transparency, improve the processing of payments and collections, and reduce borrowing costs.
Adeosun said, “The global economic challenges, which are affecting our nation, demand optimum efficiency in the management of public funds. These objectives require an overhaul of the financial management approaches adopted to meet financial obligations on time and ensure that cost effective financial support is provided to public institutions.”
Also speaking at the workshop, the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Alhaji Ahmed Idris described the TSA model operating by the Federal government has fit and suitable, considering the federalism system of the government.
According to him, Nigeria is not operating a Centralised system of TSA which involves all deposit and payment transactions processed through a single bank account due to the fact that the federating units statutorily control their treasury accounts independently.
He disclosed that 98 per cent of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal government have complied with the TSA while other 2 per cent of the government establishments are in one level or the other of compliance.