Treasury Single Account saves Nigeria N24.7 billion monthly - FG

macfranc007 February 20, 2018 Nigeria News today & Breaking news ▷ Read Nigerian newspapers 24/7 Tunde Ososanya

- The federal government has revealed that the Treasury Single Account policy has continued to save the the country N24.7 billion

- A professor of economics from Nassarawa State University, Uche Uwaleke, said that the TSA has been able to tackle corruption by tracking illicit funds through multiple accounts

- He also said that the implementation of Bank Verification Number has been able to achieve the same purpose

The federal government on Monday, February 19, said it has continued to save up to N24.7 billion monthly as a result of Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy.

According to the government, within the last two and half years in office, about N108 billion has been saved from removal of maintenance fees payable to banks before the advent of TSA, Vanguard reports.

NAIJ.com gathered that a professor of economics from Nassarawa State University, Uche Uwaleke stated that the sudden and unexpected drop in crude oil price from a peak of US$114.6-O/bbl in June 2014 to under US$30] bbl by February 2016 created financial crises for the government

Professor Uwaleke made this statement in Abuja at the week-long leadership training programme organised under the auspices of the National Committee of Buhari Support Groups, NCBSG, for its coordinators nationwide.

The professor said that in spite of the dwindling economy, the Buhari led administration has expended over N1.2 trillion on capital/infrastructure projects nationwide.

He added: “Effective implementation of the Treasury Single Account, entrenching transparency and accountability, N108 billion has been saved from removal of maintenance fees payable to banks before TSA.

“The nation is being saved N24.7 billion monthly with the full implementation of the TSA and implementation of the Bank Verification Number (BVN), thus tackling corruption by plugging loopholes for siphoning of public fund and tracking of illicit funds through multiple accounts

“Improvement in transport infrastructure, rail and road; construction work ongoing on the Lagos-lbadan Expressway, renovation of Abuja international Airport runway, completion of Abuja Kaduna Railway among others.

“Support to states: Bailout of cash crunch states; about N689 billion to 27 states of the federation to pay salaries in 2015. Complete refund of Paris loan deductions to states (unprecedented) played a part.

“Ongoing Government Enterprise and Empowerment (GEEP) Scheme; commenced in November 2016 in collaboration with the Bank of industry, where soft loans ranging from N10, 000 to N100, 000 have been given to over 189,000. Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) scheme, under which about 25,000 less privileged Nigerians so far are now being funded with the monthly N5,000 stipend in 9 pilot states (Bauchi, Borno, Cross Rivers, Ekiti, Kwara, Kogi, Niger, Osun and Oyo). More beneficiaries are expected to be added in more states.

“Nigeria successfully issued two Eurobonds (US$4.5bn), a Sukuk Bond (100 billion Naira), a Diaspora Bond (US $300m), and the first Sovereign Climate Bond in Africa, raising billions of dollars for infrastructure spending. This is testimony to investors confidence

“The federal government launched a Tax Amnesty scheme (VAIDS) designed to increase tax awareness and compliance, and reduce incidence of tax evasion. The Voluntary Income and Asset Declaration Scheme is expected to ramp up non-oil before it closes in March 2018.”

Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that when the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari announced it would implement the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy immediately after the government came into power, many Nigerians doubted the policy would make any difference in the nation.

The government went on to initiate the policy despite pockets of protests from various stakeholders and some economic analysts.

What must President Buhari do to regain the trust of Nigerians? - on NAIJ.com TV