Govt saved over Rs 25,500 crore through SNA and TSA systems: FM Sitharaman | Economy & Policy News

The government has so far achieved savings of more than Rs 25,500 crore through the treasury savings account (TSA) and the single nodal agency (SNA) bank accounts, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday. 

In a series of tweets on social media platform X, Sitharaman listed out the improvements brought in the finance ministry’s Budget exercise and expenditure management over the past 10 years. 

“Our Budgets are characterised by fiscal prudence, transparency, and inclusiveness, ensuring investments in social development and infrastructure,” the FM said. 

In one of the tweets, Sitharaman mentioned that the interest accrued in SNA bank accounts has resulted in savings of approximately Rs 10,592 crore since FY22. For every centrally sponsored scheme (CSS), each state has to identify and designate a SNA, which then creates virtual spending limits for the down-the-line agencies to incur expenditures against the particular scheme. 

The TSA, introduced in FY18 for just-in-time release of funds to autonomous bodies, has resulted in savings of more than Rs 15,000 crores to date. The TSA has brought down the unutilised parked funds. 

Sitharaman also said the government increased the contingency fund corpus to Rs 30,000 crore from Rs 500 crore in FY22 to meet unforeseen expenditures that arise when Parliament is not in Session. 

The FM criticised Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA)’s “practice of hiding the deficits through off-Budget borrowings and issuance of ‘oil bonds’, which somewhat covertly shifted the fiscal burden to future generations”.

Under UPA, Sitharaman said, standard fiscal practices were routinely changed to make Budget numbers look favourable. “Countries with transparent Budgets are often viewed more favourably by international bodies, such as the IMF and World Bank. This can lead to improved global trust,” Sitharaman said. 

The NDA government has disclosed off-Budget funded schemes in the Budget documents from FY22. 

From FY23, the government decided to limit the number of supplementary demands for grants to two, presented during the winter and budget sessions, Sitharaman highlighted. “This has made substantive improvements in the process of Budget estimation and improved financial discipline,” the FM tweeted. 

She also talked about the merger of Rail Budget with the Union Budget and advancement of the Budget cycle to February 1 for improved administrative efficiency and delivery of schemes.

First Published: May 27 2024 | 8:11 PM IST