IMF encourages government to speed up payroll audit process
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has encouraged the government of Ghana to accelerate the ongoing public payroll audit and discontinue payments to those not eligible, as quickly as possible.
It further urged an elimination of costly subsidies on fuel and energy consumption, which benefit predominantly the higher income groups.
Both measures together could generate monthly savings of about GH¢160 million which are needed to protect more productive expenditure and allow for an expansion of well-targeted social programmes to help the most vulnerable groups cope with higher cost of living.
The IMF mission led by Christiana Daseking, visiting the country to conduct discussions for the sixth and seventh review under the IMF Extended Credit Facility issued this statement during an interaction with President John Evans Atta Mills at the Castle in Accra Tuesday.
The discussions focused on preserving fiscal discipline in the context of elevated macroeconomic risks and new spending demands.
By Pascal Kelvin Kudiabor
This is long overdue especially public sector waste in payroll. Ghost names and corrupt inefficient departments. Sooner the better, it could have been down four years ago.