Nigerian lenders lose N56.4bn overdraft income to treasury single account policy

Nigerian banks have lost about N56.4 billion overdraft income in the past year due to the implementation of the treasury single account (TSA), just as the Federal Government and its agencies made savings on overdraft charges.

Ahmed Idris, the accountant general of the federation, disclosed this at a workshop on public financial management reforms with particular reference to the TSA implementation and its benefits to government organized for stakeholders in Abuja Wednesday.

He explained that before the implementation of the TSA, the Federal Government was incurring on a monthly basis a minimum of N4.7 billion from overdraft charges by banks when the various ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) over draw their balances held in the different bank accounts.

Idris explained that the withdrawal of the fund from banks had made it difficult for banks to impose charges on Federal Government funds as the government now maintains a single account for all its agencies with the Central Bank of Nigeria.

“TSA has enabled us to make tremendous gains to the Federal Government and to the Nigerian economy. We have successfully eliminated multiple banking arrangements resulting in the consolidation of over 20,000 bank accounts which were spread over deposit money banks across the country,” he said, adding that TSA implementation has further brought transparency and effective tracking of government revenues.

“It has also led to the blocking of leakages and abuse, which characterised the public financial management before the implementation of the TSA.

“TSA has taken us out of the era of indiscriminate borrowings by MDAs and saved the government the charges associated with those borrowings which hitherto amounted to N4.7b monthly.’’

The AGF stated that through the policy, the government has been able to block leakages and abuse which had characterised the public sector before its commencement in September 2015.

“I can therefore confidently assert that TSA has been beneficial to all stakeholders and the country as a whole,” he stressed, pointing out that the workshop is part of efforts to increase the level of consciousness on why the Federal Government deemed it necessary to carry out the public finance management reforms.