The public payroll often represents the single largest item within a government’s recurrent expenditure budget. Controlling this wage bill is crucial for maintaining long-term fiscal sustainability. Governments use centralized payroll systems linked directly to human resource databases to prevent unauthorized hiring. Common control strategies include placing hard caps on total civil service headcount and maintaining centralized salary scales across all ministries.

“Ghost workers” are non-existent or retired employees who remain on the state payroll due to administrative weaknesses or fraud. Governments eliminate payroll leakage through periodic biometric audits, matching payroll entries against national identification registries, and automating payroll changes through human resource information systems.

Public pensions represent long-term legal liabilities that governments must manage carefully to prevent future fiscal shortfalls: