Ghana loses $85m under HIPC

Ghana was formally admitted into the league of Highly Indebted Poor Countries, the Minister of Finance, Yaw Osafo Maafo, disclosed to newsmen on his arrival from New York last week. According to The Independent, although the spin on the major economic policy has always dwelt on the positive benefit that Ghana stands to derive from the HIPC initiative, it can reveal that the country has started feeling the heat.
It says credible sources at the Japanese Embassy have hinted that the Japanese government has withdrawn all its loans for Ghana.
One of such loans, a source said, is the 85 million-dollar Japanese loan for the Accra-Yamoransa road, which President Kufuor said, would be completed by the end of 2002.
The project is only one of the many Japan supported roads that may not get funding for its construction.
The Independent says the government will thus be compelled to seek assistance from other donors especially, the Western originators of the HIPC idea, however, the source was not convinced that they could help much in that direction because "these guys will always dictate to you what and the areas that their loans should be used for".