Ghana Gov’t grabs US$1Billion new loan from 8 foreign banks

The Government of Ghana has secured an 8 billion Ghana cedis (US$1Billion) loan from an international consortium of banks, Bloomberg has confirmed.

The details of the loan is yet to be laid before Parliament is actually a US$2Billion syndicated loan with the first billion now being made available while the rest comes later in the year.

Per Bloomberg, Ghana raised $750 million through syndicated loans with the participation of about eight African and European banks and $250 million from multilateral lenders.

Standard Bank Group Ltd., Standard Chartered Plc and Rand Merchant Bank Ltd. led the arrangements, according to reports.

The governor hopes to use this loan to stabilize its finances and financial markets after Ghana lost access to Eurobond markets this year due to higher debt and budget deficit levels, caused by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic ans mounting debts.

The country will consider the second tranche of $1 billion in the latter part of the year, after the mid-year review of the budget and taking into account the impact of the electronic transactions levy, oil and food prices, as well as geopolitics, they said.

Ghanaians have been expressing alarm over the rising debt of the country with the opposition accusing the government of massaging data on the economy. Ghana’s current debt to GDP ratio is over 80% according to documents shared by the finance minister with Parliament.

Source: MyNewsGh.com