The Bank of Ghana (BOG) has received the first tranche of a $750 million loan facility from the Afriexim Bank.
The facility is expected to finance capital and growth-related expenditures in the 2022 Budget. It will also give a big boost to the local currency, by helping to stabilize the cedi, which has been under serious depreciation pressure this month, especially.
According to experts the additional forex should further boost confidence in the local currency.
The proceeds from the loan would largely be used to finance projects in the roads, energy, railways, and health sectors. These projects are those outlined in the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of Government.
Recently, the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah hinted that the government is looking to inject $2 billion into the economy.
The move is expected to help curb the free fall of the Ghana Cedi against the dollar and other major currencies.
In an interview with Accra-based Citi FM, the Information Minister opined that 750 million dollars of the amount is expected from Afremix Bank and the remaining $1.3 billion from the cocoa syndicated loan.
“The Bank of Ghana introduced a number of measures in the short term to deal with it and on the back of that… the $750 million that we were expecting, all the paperwork has been concluded, and it should be hitting our accounts today or tomorrow.”
“If I were you, and I was holding onto dollars, I would be selling them by now because there is a lot more dollar coming in from the $750 million and also from the Cocoa Syndicated Loan of about $1.3 billion,” the minister said.
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah further stated that government is of the belief that the money coming in will lead to quick stabilisation of the Cedi.
The cedi has dropped by at least 35 percent in 2022, according to Bloomberg, making it the world’s worst-performing currency after Sri Lanka’s rupee among 150 economies tracked.
Pulse
