An amount of US$18.4m was spent on the payment of allowances for government employees as well as students who were sponsored abroad for courses and seminars by the government in the first half of 2019, a report from the Auditor-General on the Bank of Ghana’s foreign exchange receipts and payments has disclosed.

The allowances, which were captured under transactions known as invisible payments, were meant to prop up manpower, training and development.

According to the report: “These were allowances paid to government-sponsored students and government employees attending seminars and courses abroad”.

“Total transfers for the period of 2019 were US$18,471,100.08 compared with US$19,672,749.68 for the corresponding period of 2018. This amounted to a decrease of US$1,201,649.60 or 6.11%.

“The decrease was mainly due to a reduction in payment for government-sponsored students abroad and public officers attending courses abroad.”

Compared with 2017 where total invisible payments were US$987,067,205.12, the 2018 invisible payments were US$ 1,486,302,409.33, an adjustment of US$499,235,204.21 representing 50.58%.

This is an increase attributable to increases in all the components except institutional subscription.

The BoG’s invisible payments projection was, however, US$1,188,440,000.00, while actual payments were US$1,486,302,409.33, indicating 25.06% and a difference of US$297,862,409.33.