BY VICTORIA ONU, ABUJA
THE Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, has said that the implementation of the Treasury Single Account has helped the Federal Government to save about N45bn monthly in bank charges.
She said this at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on TSA with the Republic of The Gambia.
Officials from The Gambia had in May last year, following recommendations by the International Monetary Fund, visited Nigeria for a week-long study tour with respect to Treasury Single Account implementation.
Following the successful conclusion of the tour, The Gambia requested for technical co-operation with Nigeria to support its own transition to TSA.
In line with this objective, representatives of both countries worked on a Memorandum of Understanding detailing the terms and scope of the co-operation.
The Finance Minister said the co-operation sought to avail the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs of The Gambia with the vast knowledge, experience and technical expertise that Nigeria had gained in the past 15 years of implementing TSA in particular and other Public Financial Management reforms, in general.
By so doing, she said The Gambia was properly guided as it implements its own TSA.
Ahmed said, “The co-operation will enable The Gambia to leverage on the experience of Nigeria to build on our strengths while avoiding our mistakes.
“Implementation of TSA has benefited Nigeria immensely. Among other verifiable benefits, we can now easily determine our aggregate cash balance, which is critical for managing public finances at a time of acute fiscal constraints.
“In addition, we are saving an average N45bn monthly in interest payments. On the monetary policy side, we have better control over money supply and therefore able to rein in inflation and undue pressure on the Naira.
“Our foreign reserve position has also recorded appreciable improvement through the consolidation of Federal Government foreign currency earnings under the TSA. It is my expectation that The Gambia will enjoy all of these benefits if they diligently implement TSA.”
She advised the delegation that as typical of all governance reforms, there was a need for strong political support to deal with the heavy lifting that comes with Public Financial Management reforms.
She added, “Do not embark on this journey if you are not confident that you have the buy-in of your topmost political leadership. It is the most potent antidote against the several headwinds that will try to undermine and derail your reform effort.
“Next in line is to assemble the right team of competent and committed reformers with in-depth knowledge of PFM. Upon that team will rest the responsibility of translating policy into action and by so doing, ensuring that your TSA expectations are met.
“There are more factors at play. You need, for instance, the financial resources and an enabling environment to drive reforms.
“The importance of synergy between the fiscal and monetary authorities cannot be over-emphasised. Equally important is the co-operation of other stakeholders – the parliament; the ministries, departments and agencies of government; the banks and service providers.”
The minister also said that the general public, “on whose behalf government exists and manages public funds, must be convinced that TSA and other reforms are being implemented in their interest and for the good of the country.”
