Accra - Parliament of Ghana on Wednesday approved a 1 billion dollars sovereign bond from the European market. The money is to be used to finance the country's 2016 budget and to offset some of the country's loans. A total of 750 million of the facility is to be used to finance the budget while the remaining is to be expended to offset some of the country's loans. The facility has a face value of up to 1,000,000,000; a coupon to be determined by the market at issue date and a maturity of 10 years. Opposition on Tuesday, voted against the agreement, they also abstained from voting on Wednesday but the majority said to approve the bond. European Union support to the country's budget has dwindled since Ghana attained middle income status.As a result, the government has been battling with financial challenges to carry out policies, programmes and projects.The government has also promised to spend within budget following agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for technical and financial assistance to aid credibility measurements in the implementation of home grown economic policies for speedy social and economic development. (AGI)
2015 December 24