The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has urged the government to consider renegotiating conditions of the $3 billion Chinese loan which was approved by Parliament three years ago.
Conditions attached to the loan, according to the NPP, were “too complicated and cumbersome. These conditions need considerable relaxation,” the Minority Spokesperson on Finance, Dr Anthony Akoto-Osei, said in a statement read to journalists in Accra.
Disbursement of loan
He said the call for the review of the conditions attached to the loan was necessary as over 75 per cent of this year’s capital expenditure programme was expected to be funded from foreign sources.
Out of the funds, 78 per cent depended on the expected disbursement of the Chinese loan.
The government, the NPP said, expected that about $1.6 billion would be disbursed from the Chinese loan this year even though in the past three years, only $600 million had been disbursed.
According to the NPP, to ensure that the monies from the loan agreement were disbursed, there was the need for presidential intervention at two levels including the commitment fee and conditions.
“This is a matter of urgent public interest. We will humbly advise the President to treat as urgent.”
On the commitment fee, Dr Akoto-Osei explained that it was currently pegged at one per cent of the undisbursed balance of the loan.
In line with that arrangement, Ghana had so far paid an amount of $54 million as commitment fees. “Surely this cannot be good for Ghana.”
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