Details of $15 billion Chinese deal to be put before parliament - Kwaku Kwarteng

Deputy Minister for Finance, Kwaku Kwarteng has revealed that full details of the $15 Billion Chinese deal will be put before parliament for a debate before it is signed off.

He allayed fears that the amount will be contracted without recourse to the legislature indicating that it was just a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that was signed indicating that full disclosures will be made regarding the amount and terms when it is laid before parliament.

But former Deputy Minister of Finance and Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ajumako Enyan Essiam Consistency in the Central Region, Cassiel Ato Baah Forson is worried the amount could further burden the country as it will increase its debt stock.

While threatening to raise objections to the approval of the loan when it is brought before parliament because it is not interest of Ghanaians, he questioned why the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government was going for loans when they criticized the then Mahama administration against funding projects with borrowed funds.

“What is going to be the impact on debt stock and debt sustainability? …When they were in position they said they were not going to borrow and they would use resources of the state, so why are they borrowing now?” he asked.

Additionally, he observed that processes to undertake before accessing the loans will take at least two years and Ghana will not have all the money at once.

“Knowing the Chinese and having worked with them, it is going to take a bit of time, at least by my calendar I will not calculate anything less than two years,” he said.