ISLAMABAD: The ministry of finance said that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has been directed to design procedure for bringing back public money from commercial banks to Treasury Single Account (TSA).
‘A Roadmap for Stability and Growth’ issued by the ministry of finance this month, said that the central bank had been instructed to design administrative procedures, and an IT system, for rolling back public monies from commercial banks to TSA.
The ministry highlighted the weakness in fiscal management that many public sector agencies park unspent monies outside the TSA.
“By end 2018 there was an estimated Rs1.4 trillion in these accounts,” the ministry said.
This reflects a clear case of lack of oversight of public finances, it added.
These accounts of the public agencies are not linked to the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and while these amounts are reflected in SBP reports, they remain outside the fiscal reporting framework of the government.
Some of the monies are due to ‘leakages’ from the fiscal management system and are reported as expenditure in the past fiscal reports.
Thus, showing a larger than actual fiscal deficit.
Moreover, these accounts adversely impact government’s cash management and audits of public expenditure.
The government has introduced an enabling provision for Treasury Single Account (TSA) regime for Government’ cash management system has been incorporated in the draft Public Finance Management and Administration Bill.
This provision gives a rule-based regime of cash management through the TSA.
Simultaneously a policy for TSA is being drafted in consultation with stakeholders and expected to be ready soon for submission to the Federal Cabinet for approval.
