Public Funds Management in Nigeria: The Praxis and Prognosis of Treasury Single Account Policy (2015-2019)

摘要

The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the impact of implementation of treasury single account (TSA) policy on the economy of Nigeria between 2015 and 2019. Prior to the implementation of the TSA, multiple government's bank accounts held by its numerous ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), especially those domiciled at commercial banks were believed to be conduit pipes through which public funds were drained. The argument which analysts had so far canvassed, and which seems to enjoy broad consensus, is that the introduction and implementation of the TSA (as obtainable in other economies such as Britain, US, Australia, Sweden, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Central African Republic and Guinea Bissau among others) was capable of eradicating or minimising public funds wastage and diversion. Some further opined that TSA has the potential to address government borrowing and maximise the opportunity cost of cash resources. This paper therefore, makes an attempt to evaluate the implementation strategy of TSA and what impacts it has wielded on the economy of Nigeria. This paper also examined whether or not TSA is a potent tool for fostering good governance, transparency and accountability in the management of public funds. The method of research employed was secondary data analysis. The findings showed that the application of TSA in Nigeria was the desire to eliminate financial and economic corruptions characterising the public service in Nigeria, and as a consequence fosters transparency and accountability in the sector. Also it was found that there are some challenges involved in the implementation of the TSA in the country, however, a number of solutions were proposed which include: Using the TSA as both fiscal and monetary policy tools to stimulate growth and development in the nation's economy, produces and publish statement of accounts of the MDAs at periodic interval for the sake of real transparency, and the need to build synergy amongst the agencies responsible for national data generation and dissemination.