(Ecofin Agency) - The government has numbered 13,000 fictitious public servants in its wage bill, which cost it a total of FCFA30bn or $50 million. This was announced by Mali’s Minister of Information Mountaga Tall.

“After proceeding to a physical control of payments, the Minister of Public Service discovered 13,000 fictitious or irregular employees (…) if adequate measures are taken, about FCFA30 billion could be saved,” Tall said at the TV and on radio.

The fictitious workers are mostly dead or have left public service to work for international organizations, a source close to the Malian Ministry of Finance told Reuters.

Lawsuits could be initiated but for now the priority is the reimbursement of the stolen money, the same source added.

Identify and deal with the Ghost Workers is one of the demands of the IMF (International Monetary Fund) programme in Mali. The programme namely, the Revue de Programme du Mali (RPM)-FMI (Reviewing Mali’s Programme – IMF in English) should allow Mali to be granted $5.5 million.

Alain Okpeitcha