Former Finance Minister, Seth Terkper, has advised government not to use the Heritage Fund to fight the Coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking on Atinka TV’s Morning Show, ‘Ghana Nie’ on Tuesday, Mr Terkper
argued that, it will not be prudent to use the fund, which is meant for
future generations, to fight the pandemic now.
Mr Terkper, who was Finance Minister in President John Dramani Mahama’s
administration, urged government to use other sources to fund the fight
against the pandemic, which has so far recorded 287 cases.
He mentioned the Stabilisation Fund, which currently has $200 million
dollars in its fold IMF loans, the Covid-19 Trust Fund, private
initiatives among others as possible sources of funds to combat the
deadly disease.
He indicated that several loans amounting to one billion dollars have
passed through parliament for approval in the last three months and that
government could do what he calls “realignment” of some of the loans in
order to get some money for the fight against the disease.
He indicated that, it took close to a decade for the Heritage Fund to
get 560 million dollars and that it will take another decade to get
these funds back if it is depleted now.
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