Financial Oversight and Monitoring Desk for COCOBOD established – Ofori-Atta

Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has confirmed the setting up of a Financial Oversight and Monitoring Desk at the Ghana COCOBOD by the Ministry of Finance and Bank of Ghana.

According to him, the desk will have oversight over the finances of the cocoa regulator [COCOBOD] which has been saddled with massive debts over a period.

Speaking in an interview with Accra-based JoyNews and monitored by GhanaWeb Business, Ken Ofori-Atta said the financial oversight and monitoring desk will ensure financial discipline in COCOBOD’s expenditure moving forward.

“Both the Governor of the Central Bank and the Minister of Finance – myself, will now be on the Board and we also setting up a desk at the Finance Ministry that will interact with the finance division of COCOBOD to make sure the issues of fertilizers, cocoa road are all brought into an ambit of discipline. Those begin to tell you how we are getting into the issue of expenditure,” he is quoted by myjoyonline.com.

He further pointed out that the construction of cocoa roads will keenly be monitored to ensure they are conducted within the set budget limits.

Meanwhile, Ken Ofori-Atta has commenced discussions with Ghana’s external creditors in London-UK on the way forward for a debt restructuring of about $10 billion of Ghana's debt.

Government is said to ask external creditors to take as much as 40 percent nominal haircuts for the debt swap.

A positive outcome of the negotiations will pave way for Ghana to secure a second tranche disbursement of $600 million from the IMF loan facility as part of the $3 billion bailout package.

MA

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