Gov’t pays GHc753,875 for delayed loans

Continued delays in the servicing of external loans by the Government attracted a penalty payment of GHc753,875.32, a report of the Auditor-General on the public accounts of Ghana (Consolidated Fund) for the year ended December 13, 2014, has revealed.

It is, however, not clear what accounted for the delay.

The Ghanaian government was expected to make about 130 payments to sixteen of its external creditors on separate dates of the year under review but couldn’t honour its obligations on time.

Among the institutions are, BAAG, UNCB, Exim Turkey, SOGE, RBI, Credit Agricole, AFD, BHI, ABN AMRO Bank, and AKA Germany.

The rest are, COMMERZBANK, Deutsche Bank, SAE, HSBC Bank, ICO, ING Bank and KBC Bank.

The delay, therefore, attracted some penalty fees totaling GHc753,875.32.

For instance, the country was expected to pay an undisclosed amount to KBC Bank on April 11, 2014, as part payment of a loan facility it took some time ago but couldn’t honour it. The delay, however, attracted a penalty fee of €3,349.08 (GHc12,763.68).

The West African country was further expected to pay an undisclosed amount to Deutsche SAE on November 25, 2014, but failed. The delayed payment also attracted an interest of €22,790.83 (GHc92,485.19).