A plan to create a single Treasury account for the government is long overdue. Besides the immediate benefits of breaking down walls in public spending that have led to the State borrowing from its own funds held by other agencies in separate bank accounts, it is also an international best practice as it establishes oversight and centralised control over the government’s cash resources.
A single Treasury account system, which is also supported by the International Monetary Fund, is an accounting system that eliminates the need for all agencies to have their individual bank accounts and this enables the Treasury to delink management of cash from control at a transaction level.