Minister-designate for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, was on Thursday, questioned to reveal the true amount given to government by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to support government’s fight against the Covid-19 pandemic last year.
Government last year undertook a Ghs 10 billion Asset Purchase Programme from the Central Bank to help finance the budget as well as enable government provide fiscal stimulus packages and freebies for businesses and households adversely impacted by the pandemic.
Reasons assigned by the Central Bank for the Ghs 10 billion financing support to government, was the high interest rate costs on loans to be borne by government, if government was to go and borrow from the international capital market during the pandemic.
Questioning the Finance Minister-designate on the topic, Leader of the Minority Caucus in Parliament, Haruna Iddrisu, posited aside the Ghs 10 billion financing support given to government by the BoG, an undisclosed amount was also given to government without the knowledge of Parliament.
He therefore demanded that the Minister-designate disclose the additional monies given to government.
Mr Ken Ofori-Atta in his response said “To my recollection the Ghs 10 billion Asset Purchase financing support was the main transaction.”
But in a rebuttal, Mr Iddrisu stated he knew that additional monies were made available to government aside the Ghs 10 billion and that “any figure found to be contrary to the Ghs 10 billion will mean you [Ken Ofori-Atta] are not candid to the Committee.”
“I think some people have been talking about Ghs 22 billion etcetera, but I will stick to the Ghs 10 billion and any other information I will make available to the House,” was the Finance Minister-designate’s response to Mr Iddrisu’s comment that he was not being candid to the Committee about the true monies given to government by the BoG.
