Plea to banks over ghost civil servants

Commercial banks in the Central African Republic have been asked to set "affordable" conditions for civil servants to open accounts with them in order to facilitate the detection of ghost workers in the government's payroll, state-owned Television Centrafricaine reported on Monday. Prime Minister Abel Goumba made the request on Monday when he met the managing directors of four commercial banks in the country. "It is necessary and urgent for each civil servant to have a bank account," the television quoted Goumba as saying. He added that if the civil servants were paid through bank transfers and not by cash, the government would have a better chance of detecting irregularities that occur during salary payments. Speaking on behalf of the bankers, Marguerite Bingaba said the banks would consider lowering the amount required to open an account. The amount varies between 150,000 and 250,000 francs CFA (US $270-450). She said the banks would also consider establishing branches in the provinces. "Only three percent of the country's population have access to bank accounts," Bongaba said. She added that procedures would be easier now that salaries were being paid regularly since April. The commercial banks in the country are the Banque Internationale pour la Centrafrique (BICA), Banque Populaire Maroco-Centrafricaine (BPMC), Commercial Bank Central Africa (CBCA) and Credit Mutuel de Centrafrique (CMCA). A statement issued on Thursday from Goumba's office indicated that an inquiry team had unearthed 866 ghost civil servants in 10 government ministries, enabling the government to save 265 million francs ($478,046) in May. Meanwhile, a key meeting on mining is due to begin on Tuesday in the capital, Bangui, to discuss the country's new policy on the mining sector. All mining activities in the country have been suspended pending the conclusion of this meeting and investigations into the legal and fiscal situation of mining firms. Mining is the second major source of revenue for the country, after timber.