Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta confirmed to Joy News the establishment of a monitoring desk by the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to observe the finances of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD).
This is to ensure discipline in its expenditure.
The Ghana Cocoa Board which is mandated to supervise the production and export of cocoa in the country is reeling under huge annual losses which the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has identified as a major threat to the sector and government’s fiscal efforts.
The Minister in an interview withJoyNews’ George Wiafe, said the purchase of fertilizers and the construction of cocoa roads will be strictly monitored to ensure they are within budget limits.
“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 said.
The Finance Minister is currently in London to negotiate with the country’s external creditors to accept a 40 percent haircut in the proposed restructuring of the country’s $10 billion debt.
A successful negotiation will open the door for the release of the second International Monetary Fund (IMF) tranche.
Mr Ofori-Atta is confident a deal will be reached before the end of the year.
“I am sure most people were expecting to be sometime next year but I think we will be able to do it before next year.”
Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo has expressed optimism that the Ghanaian economy is rebounding despite the shocks experienced in his administration.
According to him, inflation which is the major driver, is gradually declining, thus projecting a positive economic outlook.
He is therefore convinced of hitting a single-digit inflation target before his tenure in office ends in 2024.