$19 billion Chinese loan to arrive in August – Mustapha Hamid

The Minister for Information, Mustapha Abdul-Hamid has revealed that government will submit the controversial $19 billion loan facility from the Chinese government to Parliament for approval in August, 2018.
According to him, government has completed all the paper works in securing the Chinese facility and is expected to secure the facility by the end of August 2018.
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“The loan will come very soon; we have done all the paper works, very soon we will go to Parliament for the approval. Hopefully we will hit the ground by middle of the year [July to August]” Mustapha Hamid stressed.
Mustapha Abdul-Hamid was speaking on Adom FM’s Burning Issues program hosted by Afia Pokua on a number of issues concerning the country.
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia announced on his return from a four-day visit to China that Ghana had struck a deal with the Chinese government in which about $19bn could be invested into the economy through various MOUs signed.
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The funding partnership with China, according to Dr. Bawumia, was not based on direct borrowing and aid model.
He said it was based on the bargaining power of the country’s natural resources such the 2.8 billion metric tonnes of iron ore deposits, 960 million metric tonnes of bauxite, 413 million metric tonnes of Manganese and not to mention Gold, Cocoa and among others.
After his visit, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) described the $19 billion Chinese deal as a hoax, whiles the Minority in Parliament also lambasted the Akufo-Addo led government for expressing its willingness to use the country’s natural resources as collateral in securing a $19 billion loan from the Chinese government.
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The Minority spokesperson on Finance, Ato Forson chastised the NPP government’s arrangement with the Chinese, labeling it as “deeply hypocritical.”
But Mustapha Hamid told show host Afia Pokua that he was optimistic that government will secure the deal to embark of various projects in the country for the betterment of the citizenry.
He assured the nation that government will do all it can to secure the $19 billion loan facility from the Chinese government after the approval by Parliament.