The dean of the School of Economics, University of Cape Coast, Prof James Atta Peprah, has called on the government to immediately clean-up the payroll of the public sector to flush out ghost names in the system.
In August last year, the Ghanacard uncovered about 14,000 ghost names on the payroll of the National Service Scheme after a biometric audit, saving the country GHC112 million annually.
Speaking on Asaase 99.5 Accra’s weekend news analysis show – The Forum – on Saturday (20 May), Peprah said the government must ensure that the wage bill is reduced after securing a three-year programme of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revive the economy.
The IMF executive board approved Ghana’s request for a US$3 billion bailout to support the country’s economic recovery on May 17. The Fund said its support programme for the country will focus on reining in inflation and rebuilding the country’s foreign reserve buffers.
The backing comes after Ghana last week clinched financial assurances from a bilateral creditors group co-chaired by China and France.
Mixed blessings
Touching on how to keep the economy on track under the IMF programme, Peprah told his host Wilberforce Asare that “the IMF deal comes with mixed blessings. We need to conduct payroll clean-up to breakdown the wage bill – it won’t favour ghost workers.”
“We must also cut down the wage bill. Ghanaians should expect an end to subsidy of utilities and petroleum products,” Peprah said.
“Ghanaians should expect an upward review in petroleum prices but it’s normal. We know a cap is going to be placed at the public sector when it comes to employment.
“The government must re-engineer the private sector and support it with cash to create jobs for the youth. We must also support microfinance institutions because they provide backbone to those in the villages. That sector is dying,” the economist said.
Peprah urged the government to use the bailout to “restore debt sustainability.”
