The Ministry of Finance has received an amount of GH¢5.5 billion from the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to provide support to roll-out the Covid-19 Alleviation and Revitalisation Enterprise Support Programme or the Ghana Care Programme.
The Ghana Care Programme is expected to provide support to manage the pandemic Covid-19.
According to the Minister, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, the money earmarked by the government for the project is GH¢10 billion.
Mr Ofori-Atta made this known to Parliament while presenting a paper titled “Report on the limit of borrowing by Government under subsection (6) of Section 30 of the Bank of Ghana Act (Act 612) in the Novel Coronavirus Emergency.”
The Minister indicated that the economic impact of the Covid-19 could last for as long as three years, hence, the need to develop a programme to cushion the economy to withstand the threats the aftermath of the disease would pose.
He said the government then decided to launch a special Covid-19 relief programme bond programme to help the economy. However, it wouldn’t be possible without any financial assistance, he said.
“Mr Speaker, as I stated earlier, the economic impact of COVID-19 could be as long as three years, so in order to address it, the President directed that the Ministry come up with a stabilisation and revitalisation plan for the country. In this regard, the ministry is developing a three-year Covid-19 Alleviation and Revitalisation Enterprise Support Programme – The Ghana Care Programme – to help stabilise and revitalise the economy.”
Therefore, the BoG, Ministry of Finance and Comptroller and Accountant Generals Department, under the section 30 of the Bank of Ghana Act, 2002 (Act 612), agreed to trigger the emergency financing provision under the law, which permits increasing the limits on the purchase of government securities by the BoG in emergency situations.
“Mr Speaker, given the exceptional challenges highlighted above, the Ministry of Finance and Bank of Ghana and the Comptroller and Accountant General has required under section 30 of the Bank of Ghana Act, 2002 (Act 612), have agreed to trigger the emergency financing provision under the law, which permits increasing the limits on the purchase of government securities by Bank of Ghana in the event of an emergency.
“I am pleased to announce that the BoG released a facility amounting to $5.5 billion to the Ministry of Finance on Friday 15, 2020.”
Touching more on the pandemic, the Minister said that since his last visit to the House on April 8, 2020 to present a paper on the Coronavirus alleviation programme, which encompasses support to households and businesses with the overall vision of ensuring that economic activities are sustain across Ghana and businesses are protected, the cases have increased.
He said that thought other programmes such as the ‘600 million National Board for Small Scale Industries Coronavirus Alleviation Programme’, the uncertainty underlining the pandemic is gulling, hence, the need for the current programme to secure the economy.
The Minister assured the House that the government was confident that the programme would propel the country forward on the Ghana Beyond Aid, despite the threats of the pandemic.
He concluded that the “government remains committed to protecting and sustaining livelihoods and rebuilding our broken industrial sector and positioning Ghana well.”
The post MoF receives GH?5.5bn to roll-out Ghana Care Programme appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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