Nigeria hopes to cut down on borrowing, graft due to better cash management: finance minister

Nigeria's decision to collect government payments in one bank account will help limit state borrowing, reduce payment delays and curb corruption, its finance minister said on Monday.

Last year, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the merger of state accounts into one "single treasury account" at the central bank to reduce graft and a practice where the government borrowed back its own funds from lenders at an interest.

Nigerian government ministries and other state bodies operated more than 10,000 bank accounts with commercial lenders in the past, an official said.

Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun said the government had so far channelled over 2.2 trillion naira into its treasury account.