Govt assents to Finance Division's rules for Treasury Single Account

August 7, 2020 (MLN): Government has approved the list of rules set forth by the Finance Division for ensuring an effective cash management system for Ministries/Divisions, most of which pertain to the implementation of Treasury Single Account (TSA).

For the unversed, a TSA is a banking arrangement for the consolidation of government financial resources in one bank account or multiple bank accounts linked to one main account through which the government transacts all its receipts and payments.

Keeping in view the cash availability and management needs of the Government, the Finance Ministry has laid out the following rules and regulations, which according to them, shall come into force with effect from the date of publication in the official Gazette i.e. July 24, 2020;

• Monies that have been appropriated through the Federal Government budget and have been transferred to scheduled bank accounts by Government offices shall be reverted to the non-food account No.1 of the Government by the 30th June 2020
• Finance Division shall identify and notify all Government offices which are required to be included in the TSA system, after classification and evaluation of all existing bank accounts being maintained by such offices.
• Government offices that are fully funded through the Federal Government budget by using either local or foreign sources, including project and programme loans and grants, shall operate their bank accounts through TSA system and no cash operation shall be allowed outside the TSA. Assignment accounts, sub-assignment accounts and revolving fund accounts shall be used in case of local currency or foreign currency funding requirements.
• Any government investment, loan, grant, subsidy, equity, project or scheme either funded locally or through foreign aid shall be provided to government enterprises and offices through subaccounts of TSA system including assignment accounts, sub-assignment accounts and revolving fund accounts opened in public account.
• Procedure for opening, operating and closing of assignment accounts including its sub-accounts and linked accounts shall remain operative
• The SBP or its banking agent NBP shall operate or cause to operate assignment accounts, sub-assignment accounts and linked accounts as approved by Finance Division according to assignment accounts procedure. Assignment account both for local currency and foreign currency shall be part of non-food account No. 1 of Government maintained by SBP. Principal accounting officers shall be responsible for overseeing operations of such accounts including request for approval from Finance Division for opening of assignment accounts.
• A request for opening of assignment accounts may be sent to Finance Division under existing procedure, available at www.finance.gov.pk. An assignment account shall be opened with designated branch of NBP for incurring expenditure under assignment accounts procedure. SBP and its agents shall be responsible for issuing bank statement for reconciliation and cooperate with Government offices as well as Finance Division for conflict resolution, if any.
• The Government offices using the assignment accounts shall be responsible for enforcing financial order and strict economy at every step and after observance of all relevant fiduciary rules and regulations. The Government offices shall ensure that not only the total expenditure is kept within the limits of the authorized ceiling but also that the funds allocated to spending units are expended in the public interest and for objects for which the money was allocated. In order to maintain a proper control, the Government offices shall put in place a monitoring mechanism to know not only of what has actually been spent from an appropriation but also what commitments and liabilities have been and will be incurred against it.
• The Government offices concerned shall maintain proper books of accounts and maintain receipt and revenue ledger and disbursement ledger so that the balance of receipt side shall correspond with the money deposited in receipt account. Similarly, expenses shall be reconciled with bank statement issued by SBP or its agents.
• The withdrawing entities shall be responsible for accounting of expenditure on a daily basis. On the basis of record and the bank statement, the drawing authorities shall render classified account of expenditure to the accounting offices on a monthly basis by 10th of each month for reconciliation of expenditure. The variations, if any, shall be reconciled and appropriate entries shall be made to update the accounting records. Monthly and quarterly release of funds shall be subject to reconciliation with accounting offices. The NBP shall report the account remaining undrawn against the authorized ceiling at the close of a financial year to accounting office in respect of each assignment account within a month.
• The SBP shall host and maintain TSA on behalf of the Federal Government. It shall provide electronic gateway system for necessary payment reports and ability to check the account balances online and real-time. The SBP shall collect information from commercial banks under section 31 of the Act and ensure provision of all information to the Finance Division to ensure implementation of the TSA system.
• Principal accounting officers, overseeing the Government offices on the instructions of Finance Division, shall close all bank accounts in commercial banks and provide evidence of such closure to Finance Division. Principal accounting officers shall transfer to TSA balances of accounts that contain public moneys appropriated through the Government’s.
• Accounting office’s shall ensure that no payment is made from the Federal Consolidated Fund without available budget, assignment accounts and sub-accounts are maintained for TSA system and that reconciliations are carried out on quarterly basis between book balances, bank statements and GFMIS.

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