I still have Agyapa Royalties in mind – Ken Ofori-Atta
Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister for Finance has said he still wants to pursue the Agyapa Royalties deal.
Mr Ofori-Atta said he still has in his mind the agreement because he believes it is best for the country.
Speaking at the Minister’s Press Briefing on Thursday 12 May, he said, “My firm philosophical belief really is that the capital markets are meant for something that will lead us to equity resources and we are not leveraging on it. Therefore, it is not the question of whether monetization of mineral royalties or listing of the company is bad or good.”
Ofori-Atta said, “It is good because that is how you raise the resources. The question is the process of doing that. If you have a problem with the process just articulate it, let’s cure it but let us not drop something that will be good for us that will reduce our debt exposure. So those are two very different questions. How best to do it as opposed to, don’t do it. My mind is still there, I know the president has mentioned something about that going through the AG, Parliament to do that [Agyapa deal].”
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He added, “But it is not something that is an asset to the country that one needs to drop, you need to examine all your equity and debt positions and the best choice for the country.
“We will never have done Free SHS if we listened to other people that is 400,000 lives that have a chance to do something. We would have stopped shot at E-Levy because of the noise, suddenly we have a tax handle that will be phenomenally important for the country. so we need to look at that.”
Earlier, the minister said the new Agyapa deal will be in the best interest of the country and will address concerns raised by relevant stakeholders.
