The Ministry of Finance has pointed out the dire implications to the Ghanaian economy if the anti-LGBTQ+ Bill passed by Parliament is assented to.
In a brief on the implications of assenting to the Bill by President Akufo-Addo, the Ministry of Finance said the country stands to lose huge financial support from the Bretton Woods institutions.
“In total, Ghana is likely to lose US$3.8 billion in World Bank Financing over the next five to six years. For 2024, Ghana will lose US$600 million in budget support and US$250 million for the Financial Stability Fund. This will negatively impact Ghana’s foreign exchange reserves and exchange rate stability as these inflows are expected to shore up the country’s reserve position,” part of the brief cited by 3news.com reads.
The Ministry of Finance provided the details as follows:
- The expected US$300 million financing from the First Ghana Resilient Recovery Development Policy Operation (Budget Support) which is currently pending Parliamentary approval might not be disbursed by the Bank when it is approved by Parliament;
- On-going negotiations on the second Ghana Resilient Recovery Development Policy Operation (DPO) for budget support amounting to US$300 million may be suspended;
- On-going negotiations for US$250 million to support the Ghana Financial Stability Fund may be suspended;
- Disbursement of non-disbursed amounts totalling US$2.1 billion for ongoing projects will be suspended; and
- Preparation of pipeline projects and declaration of effectiveness for two projects totalling US$ 900 million may be suspended.
The Ministry cautioned that “The potential loss of these financial resources will create a financing gap in the 2024 budget that the government must address through additional domestic revenue mobilisation and a significant reduction in expenditure.
Failing this, the Government’s ability to achieve the targets in the 2024 Budget will be undermined and the IMF-ECF Programme is likely to be derailed.”
