Ghost names not cause of Ghana’s high wage bill - Mona Quartey

The Government of Ghana has downplayed fears that ghost names on its payroll is a major contributory factor to the country’s ballooning wage bill.

There have been calls by several stakeholders, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), for a comprehensive audit of the West African country's public sector payroll.

Minister of Finance, Seth Terkper has previously stated that 70 percent of the country’s revenue is consumed by just over 600,000 public sector workers.

Speaking on Business Focus on Starr 103.5 FM, the Deputy Minister of Finance, Mona Quartey said there is more to the problem than the mere elimination of ghost names.

Quartey added that the phenomenon of ghost names on government payroll is a major problem which needs to be tackled seriously.

According to her, “It’s not all about just Ghosts, the Ghosts are there, they have come and gone and come and go and sometimes come back with a vengeance”.

The former Executive Director of Merchant Bank added, “what I believe from what I am seeing so far is the fact that the single spine which came in 2010 was new, it had its teething problems, a noble project, it was difficult in its implementation and it created a lot of areas which we have tried to clear till date.

“The good thing about it in spite of all its difficulties in implementing is that it has linked salaries and wages to productivity which has been one of the main goals of our current President."

Madam Quartey said she believes the streamlining of the Single Spine Salary Structure will help solve the wage bill issue.