Parliament approves 7 loans totaling $710m at emergency Tuesday sitting

Parliament held an emergency sitting in which they approved seven loan agreements.

The facilities approved during the May 2 sitting included US$60.6 million to finance the Ghana Covid-19 Emergency Preparedness and Response Project, and US$150 million to finance the West Africa Food Systems Resilience Programme, and €EU170 million to establish the Development Bank of Ghana.

There was also US$30 million to finance the Medical Equipment Provision Project in response to Covid-19, US$150 million to finance the Primary Healthcare Investment Project and US$150 million to finance the Public Financial Management for Service Delivery Programme.

The House also saw through another US$200 million loan agreement with the World Bank. This facility is geared towards financing the Ghana Digital Acceleration Project.

The project is to help the Government of Ghana increase access to broadband, enhance the efficiency and quality of selected digital public services, and strengthen the digital innovation ecosystem in Ghana to help create better jobs and economic opportunities.

The approved Ghana Digital Acceleration Project will support a regulatory shift to create an enabling environment for digital inclusion and innovation; streamline governance and delivery of public services; and facilitate smallholder engagement in data-driven digital agriculture.

In all, the loan agreements approved amounted to $710 million.

Meanwhile, Ghana is still at the door of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) making frantic efforts to secure a $3 billion bailout as the country’s economy faces an unprecedented crisis.

Earlier this week, President Akufo-Addo asked Japan to help Ghana secure a deal with the IMF.

He said this at a meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida

The Asian country is the latest of the tall list of countries Ghana is calling on for needed assistance.

President Akufo-Addo said the bailout will boost the recovery of Ghana’s economy. 

“Ghana is also counting on the support of Japan in reaching a favourable agreement with the International Monetary Fund which will pave the way for the robust recovery of Ghana’s economy,” President Akufo-Addo told Fumio Kishida.