Part of $15 billion grant from China to be used for construction of new Psychiatric hospital

The Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has hinted that part of the grant money of $15 billion from China will be used to construct a psychiatric hospital.

The Vice President addressing a gathering at an event organised by the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG) on China-Africa relations, said, the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Government of Ghana and the Chinese government, is a joint venture and not a loan.

He said, ‘’part of grant money will also be towards the construction of a new Accra Psychiatric Hospital.’’ He further revealed that, there is an additional 50 million for the military, adding, ‘’this is grant money and we are thankful for it because it is going to accelerate our growth.’’

He also used the opportunity to debunk claims by critics that the $15 billion from China was a loan.

The Minority says government's $15 billion deal with China is reckless and will have a dire effect on the country's economy.

The Minority MPs have also threatened to vote down the $15 billion credit facility from China.

But Dr. Bawumia at the event said, “It is a joint venture; and essentially that is what the leveraging means in this context. It is a win – win situation.’’

According to him, many of the analysts were ignorant of the government’s new arrangement with the Chinese government, adding “because as a country, we have been used to the old model of borrowing from China, many analysts have not understood this new paradigm.

They, therefore, keep referring erroneously to the $15 Chinese loan.

What we are proposing and the agreements we have reached so far are not new loans, but rather joint venture proposals using less than 5% of our potentially refined bauxite reserves.”