A $35 million World Bank loan has been approved by Parliament to fight the deadly Coronavirus in the country.
The funds under the rapid credit facility are aimed at fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
Member of the Finance Committee in Parliament, John Jinapor, had earlier rendered as false claims by the Finance Minister that the $100 million to fight Coronavirus in Ghana was ready.
He disclosed that the said amount is yet to be approved by the Finance Committee following a joint memorandum to Parliament by the Ministers for Finance and Health on a proposed US$35 million loan from the International Development Administration of the World Bank.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in 2018 announced that Ghana was set to exit its $1 billion bailout programme, which was contracted by his predecessor, John Dramani Mahama with the IMF by the end of that year.
This was followed by the announcement by Ghana’s Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, during the 2019 budget presentation that Ghana would exit the bailout in the same year.
“We are now on course to exit the IMF programme by the end of this year.
“We are grateful to the IMF and are determined to maintain a combination of economic discipline and vibrancy that will ensure that we will not have to be rescued in that manner in the future,” the minister said, adding that Ghana was on course to achieve the fiscal deficit target of 3.7% of GDP for the year, in a bid to convince investors of its commitment to uphold sound economic policies,” Ken Ofori-Atta said.
Therefore Ghana officially exited the IMF Extended Credit Facility (ECF) programme on April 2, 2019, and the euphoria that followed was unprecedented.
The coronavirus pandemic has compelled the government to activate all its contracts with the World Bank and the IMF for financial support to address the burden of the virus on the Ghanaian economy.
