AGC to receive $185 credit facility

Ashanti Goldfields Company Limited is to benefit from a 185-million-dollar revolving credit facility with a syndicate of seventeen international banks.

A statement issued through the Ghana Stock Exchange said the facility was for a period of five years and might be drawn in either "gold troy ounces or US dollars with a margin of 105 basic points".

"The proceeds of the facility will be used to discharge existing loans totalling 141 million dollars at 31 March 1995, and for general corporate purposes", the statement said. The credit facility would provide AGC with greater flexibility, provide programmes to achieve and sustain gold production of at least one million ounces per year.

"The company will also benefit from a saving in interest expense, as the interest margin on the new facility is significantly less than that on the loans being discharged", the statement indicated.