Deputy Finance Minister, John Kumah, has said that the Afreximbank loan has fully been received by the government.
According to him, the full amount of $750 million hit the account of the government on Monday, August 29, 2022
He said, however, in an August 29 Facebook post that $37 million of the amount has been set aside for debt servicing obligations.
His comment comes on the back of concerns by the Ranking Member of Parliament’s Select Committee on Finance, Cassiel Ato Forson, on the whereabouts of $37 million from the Afreximbank loan facility.
“The Government has received fully the total amount of USD750.0 million today Monday, 29th August, 2022 from Afrexim as was approved by Parliament. Government also as part of the transaction has created an Escrow Account for debt service for the facility.
“This arrangement is not new as the Ministry of Finance has from time to time created specialised Escrow accounts for specific purposes. In this particular transaction, an amount of USD37.0 million from the facility has been set aside for debt service obligations. All the documentation relating to this arrangement was supplied to and was approved by Parliament.
“Government is grateful to Afrexim and assure all Ghanaians that the funds will be applied especially to the specific infrastructure projects approved by Parliament,” John Kumah wrote on his Facebook page.
Earlier, Cassiel Ato Forson had raised eyebrows over a ‘missing’ $37 million from the loan facility.
According to him, Parliament approved a $750 million Afreximback loan facility and not the $713 million the Bank of Ghana (BoG) reportedly received on behalf of the government.
In a tweet shared on August 29, 2022, Ato Forson added that Parliament did not approve any fee amounting to the $37 million discrepancy.
“Can someone at the ministry of finance & the Bank of Ghana explain why only $713m out of the approved $750m hit GOG’s Bank account?
“Where is the remaining $37m? For the avoidance of doubt, Parliament did not approve upfront fees amounting to $37m,” parts of the tweet by Ato Forson, who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ajumako Enyan Essiam, read.
The MP made these remarks while reacting to a 3news.com report that indicated that BoG received $713 million instead of the $750 million expected.
According to 3news, a source at the central bank had said that $13 million had already been paid as fees and so the $37 million discrepancy cannot also be fees.
ghanaweb.com