Govt deliberates shifting all its deposits to State Bank

KARACHI: The government is mulling over a proposal to introduce the Treasury Single Account (TSA) to shift all its deposits of various government departments and organisations with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

“While the proposal to introduce TSA is being examined by the Government of Pakistan in consultation with the SBP as part of its agenda to reform public financial management, however, no decision has yet been made to implement the TSA,” a press release issued by the SBP said on Wednesday.

The SBP further asserted that any decision in this regard will be taken after due consultation with all stakeholders and evaluating its impact on the banking sector.

On the other hand, the bankers expressed their displeasure over the proposal saying that the government wanted to minimize its net borrowing from the banking system.

Sources privy to the matter believe that, with TSA, corruption could be eliminated from the deposits of several government departments and organisations.

The State Bank elucidated that it will be premature to form an opinion about the proposed policy and thus the market players should avoid engaging in any speculative activities based on this proposal which is still under examination.