LIVESTREAMING: Parliament responds to Finance Minister's presentation on $2.25bn bond issue

Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta is currently presenting full details of the controversial $2.25 billion bond issued by government before the house in Parliament.

This follows concerns about the transparency of the bond issued with some, mostly minority members indicating signs of shadiness and conflict of interest.

They complained the bond was done in secrecy, denying other investors an opportunity to participate in the bond. They further alleged that the transaction was “cooked” to favor a particular investor ,Franklin Templeton, while the transaction did not receive parliamentary approval.

According to Minority members, a non-executive director on the Board of Investment Firm, Franklin Templeton, which purchased 95 percent of the bond is also the Chairman of the Enterprise group which has links to the Attorney-General and the Finance Minister.

Parliament subsequently passed a half hour motion to compel the Minister in charge, Ken Ofori-Atta to provide detailed information on the issuance of the bond.

The motion filed by the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, requested for the full complement of documentation related to the issuance, the participants, the utilization of proceeds and the currency in which the bond was settled.

In their response, the Finance Ministry explained that the issuance was neither shrouded in secrecy nor cooked for any particular investor. They explained that the Bookrunners, (Barclays, Stanbic and SAS), on behalf of the Ministry were mandated since 2015 to issue these domestic bonds on a regular basis as per the debt issuance calendar which the Ministery of Finance puts out every quarter”.

The further explained that the book runners announce and publish every impending bond issue to the market, the week of issue and provide price guidance to the market adding that this particular bond issue was no different and was done in conformity with the established process.