Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has emphasized that negotiations will continue with key players in the energy sector towards finding a suitable solution in honoring debt obligations owed.
According to him, despite the challenges in the sector, it remains very critical to the growth of the economy with government keen on implementing reforms in the Energy Sector Recovery Programme.
“The energy sector has been very difficult for us but we are keen on the Energy Sector Recovery Programme 2.0 with some strong changes thus far. We have been able to get in about three tariff adjustments to allow for some automation of quarterly adjustments to earn the needed returns,” Ofori-Atta said while speaking on GTV’s Talking Point show on August 6, 2023.
He continued, “…That has then resulted in the ECG doubling on its revenue collections which will enable government to pay Independent Power Producers on a monthly basis instead of accumulating the debt. The question now is the legacy and liability debt which we are negotiating with the IPPs to make it possible to pay them for the services offered.”
In recent times, the Independent Power Producers have threatened to cut power supply from the national grid if government fails to honor debt payment owed to them.
According to the IPPs consisting of Sunon Asogli; Cenpower; Karpowership; AKSA; Twin City Energy and CENIT, government owes about US$1.8 billion in outstanding payments.
The Independent Power Producers play a pivotal role in providing power generation for distribution. They have a controlling stake of 47 percent of the country’s total power generation mix.
Source: www.ghanaweb.com