The administration requested a loan arrangement for $750 million, which the parliament earlier today authorised. The money will be used to cover capital and growth-related expenses in the 2022 budget.
The Minority in Parliament had opposed the facility's approval, and the transaction had been in limbo for weeks. But the administration had been more desperate to obtain the one-time loan for $1 billion to fund the 2022 budget as well as shore up the nation's foreign reserve.
The Minority modified their attitude after weeks of back and forth between the two sides of the house, and some agreement was found. The Finance Ministry needs a $750 million loan "to save Ghana from going bankrupt," it said. A $750 million loan from the AfreximBank, the deal's centrepiece, has finally been authorised.
The loan was vital and urgent, the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta reportedly informed the members, according to the report of the Finance Committee that was approved by the whole body.
The approval of the facility is urgently required to prevent the government from going bankrupt and to assist the country in repaying its debts, according to the minister of finance's explanation to the committee.
The credit was urgently needed, according to Kwaku Kwarteng, the chairman of the finance committee, who encouraged his colleagues to accept the loan so that the government could fulfil its obligations.
Kwaku Kwarteng had previously stated on Joy FM's Top Story that without the loan, wages could not be paid and debt payments could not be made.
While supporting the passage of the loan arrangement, minority party members of parliament expressed serious worries about the nation's mounting debt, which they claim has reached an unsustainable level.
The Finance Committee will keep meeting in order to find a solution to the $250 million portion of the transaction that has stagnated due to various issues brought up by the Minority.
blogpay
