Centre saved over Rs 25,500 cr via TSA and SNA bank accounts

In a series of tweets on social media platform X, Sitharaman highlighted the improvements in the finance ministry's budget processes and expenditure management over the last decade.

“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 noted that the interest earned in SNA bank accounts has led to savings of around Rs 10,592 crore since FY22.

For each centrally sponsored scheme (CSS), states must appoint an SNA, which then sets virtual spending limits for subordinate agencies to manage expenditures for the scheme.

The TSA, introduced in FY18 for just-in-time fund releases to autonomous bodies, has saved over Rs 15,000 crore so far by reducing unutilized parked funds.

Sitharaman also mentioned that the government increased the contingency fund corpus from Rs 500 crore to Rs 30,000 crore in FY22 to address unexpected expenditures when Parliament is not in session.

She slammed 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”.

“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.

Sitharaman stated that under the UPA, standard fiscal practices were frequently changed to make the Budget numbers appear more favorable.

Sitharaman highlighted that the NDA government has disclosed off-Budget funded schemes in the Budget documents since FY22. Starting in FY23, the government has decided to limit the number of supplementary demands for grants to two, which are presented during the winter and budget sessions.

“This has made substantive improvements in the process of Budget estimation and improved financial discipline,” the FM tweeted.

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