Nigeria saving ₦45bn monthly in interest payments through TSA -Ahmad

Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed said Nigeria is now saving an average of ₦45 billion monthly in interest payments from the implementation of Treasury Single Account (TSA).

She made this disclosure on Tuesday during the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on TSA with the Republic of The Gambia in Abuja.

Other verifiable benefits from the implementation of TSA she said include Nigeria now “easily determining its aggregate cash balance which is critical for managing public finances at a time of acute fiscal constraints.”

On the monetary policy side, she said Nigeria now has “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 the federal government foreign currency earnings under the TSA,” she stated.

Speaking on the support extended to The Gambian authorities, Zainab Ahmed noted that “the essence of the co-operation seeks to avail the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs of The Gambia of the vast knowledge, experience and technical expertise that Nigeria has gained in the past 15 years of implementing TSA in particular and other Public Financial Management (PFM) reforms, in general.”

This cooperation she said has positioned The Gambia to properly implement its own TSA. According to her “the co-operation will enable The Gambia to leverage on the experience of Nigeria to build on our strengths while avoiding our mistakes.”

Zainab Ahmed advised the Gambians “to assemble the right team of competent and committed reformers with in-depth knowledge of PFM.”

According to her, it is “upon that team will rest the responsibility of translating policy into action and by so doing, ensuring that your TSA expectations are met.

In their response, Ms. Ada Gaye, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance of The Gambia, on behalf of the delegation, said “The Gambia wants to efficiently manage its funds; the fragmentation of accounting systems in The Gambia is huge. It is, therefore, noteworthy for The Gambia to adopt TSA.

She pledged that they will “create the needed sensitisation to help the people of The Gambia understand the process. Nigeria is the big brother while The Gambia is the small brother. We are happy to cement this brotherly love.”

According to the Gambian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Amadou Sheikh Oman Taal, Nigeria is a big example within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region. “We are trying to make reforms in our financial management. Therefore, this collaboration with Nigeria is very important to us. So, The Gambia Central Bank will get closer to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) so as to learn and get the necessary experience,” he also said.