THE ROLE OF TREASURY SINGLE ACCOUNT IN TREASURY

Abstract

The Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy was designed to block revenue loopholes, promote transparency and accountability, prevent mismanagement of government’s revenue, unify government bank accounts, improve the processing of payments and collections, and reduce borrowing costs. It aims to ensure complete, real-time information on cash resources and improves operational and appropriation’s control. The management of the government’s cash resources and how that links to the budget preparation and execution processes. More specifically, the chapter discusses the management of the daily, weekly and monthly patterns of government spending and revenue flows; cash flow forecasting; and how this treasury function (as it is generally termed) is best developed and managed through a treasury single account (TSA) held at the central bank. Other cash management activities, such as the targeting of the government cash balances in the TSA or the banking sector and the smoothing of the government’s daily cash flow by transactions in the financial markets, are linked operationally with debt management.