Parliament has approved the Economic Governance and Poverty Reduction Credit (EGPRC) agreement between the government of Ghana and the International Development Association (IDA) for an amount of 193.8 million Special Drawing Rights equivalent to 300million US dollars for general budget support.
The credit facility is to support government’s effort to restore budgetary discipline and tackle long standing public sector and energy issues while protecting the poor. The amount which is to be released in two tranches of 150million US dollars each is repayable in 25 years with a 10-year grace period.
Conditions set by the government of Ghana and agreed to by the IDA for the release of the first tranche of the amount among other things include reconstituting the boards of the VRA, ECG, GNPC, TOR and the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC). Also government is obliged to increase the number of households covered by the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme.
Actions to be taken by government before the release of the 2nd tranche of the amount among other things include the appointment of a minister of state to be responsible for public sector reforms and to eliminate ghost workers from the Ghana Education service payroll. Presenting the report of the Parliamentary Select Committee on finance, the chairman of the committee, Hon. James Avedzi, said the credit facility will help government stabilize and promote growth of the economy.
Source: Emmanuel Akorli, peacefmonline.com
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