John Alan Kojo Kyeremanten, Minister for Trade and Industry The government has spent over GH¢260 million on 128 One District, One Factory (1D1F) Companies as interest subsidies over the past 4 years.
This was revealed by the Minister for Trade and Industry, John Alan Kojo Kyeremanten who explained the amount: GH¢260,961,056.42 was to support loan facilities granted to the Companies under the 1D1F program by Participating Financial Institutions (PFIS).
Answering questions standing in the name of Bole/Bamboi MP, Yusif Sulemana, on how much has been expended on subsidizing loan interests for One District One Factory companies, and the list of beneficiaries with matching amounts in the last four years, Alan Kyeremanten further disclosed the PFIs have approved loans totaling GH¢2.69 billion on the back of the interest subsidies, of which GH¢1.66 billion have already been disbursed.
“PFIs involved in the transactions under reference include GCB Bank Limited, Prudential Bank Limited, Société General, Universal Merchant Bank, ADB Ghana Limited, Ecobank Ghana, Standard Chartered Bank, Absa Bank Ghana Limited, CAL Bank Limited and Stanbic Bank Ghana”. He stated
“Mr. Speaker, it is worth noting that the lending risk associated with the said transactions are borne by the PFIs. The interest subsidies provided by Government are only meant to de-risk the loans extended to the 1D1F Companies”. He explained.
“Against this background, the Ministry of Trade and Industry has signed MoUs with the PFIs which provides inter alia that: “Each Party undertakes to take all reasonable steps to preserve the confidentiality of the information disclosed, including without limitation requesting that the confidential information shall not be released to third parties or the public” the minister emphasized.
The minister however refused to furnish Parliament with the list of beneficiary companies.
“Mr. Speaker, in the light of the above, the Ministry considers it inappropriate to provide the list of beneficiaries with matching amounts as requested by the Honourable Member.”
This explanation however did not go down well with the Bole/Bamboi MP who questioned the basis for the refusal of the minister to provide the list of beneficiary companies.
