Parliament Approves $750 Million Loan With Afrexim Bank

Parliament has approved the $750million agreement with Afrexim Bank which forms part of a $1 billion dollar the government is seeking to pay for infrastructure projects across the country as well as increase the reserve.

This comes after a fierce opposition from Minority members of the House who sought a clarification of projects captured under the agreement.

Government had initially stated their intention in the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of Government take a loan in Cedis equivalent to $750 million under a syndicated term loan facility arrangement for the implementation of the 2022 budget.

The loan syndication approach was chosen following Government’s announcement that no Eurobond would be issued in 2022 under the International Capital Market Programme (ICMP) until market conditions improve.

This was necessitated because, at the time of the 2022 Budget approval, the spread of the new COVID-19 variants had led to the re-imposition of restrictions worldwide coupled with incidences of fuel price increases and supply side disruptions, limiting access to the international capital market.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Ranking member on the Finance Committee of Parliament, Isaac Adongo has called for the resignation of the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta for superintending over an economic mess. Speaking on the floor of parliament today, Mr. Adongo said if the country wants to solve its current economic crisis, the finance minister should either be sacked or resign.