Business News of Monday, 23 August 2021
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
• Government has said the GIIF is not the only source of funding for the 'Agenda 111' project
• John Kumah said the Fund will only serve as a special purpose vehicle
• He adds that government will mobilize funding from other sources to complete the project
A deputy Finance Minister, Dr John Kumah has debunked assertions that funding for government’s Agenda 111 project will only come from the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF).
His comments come after a section of the public and the Minority in Parliament raised concerns over the source of funding and the earlier announced cost for the project which was pegged at US$100 million.
Kumah clarified that the GIIF will only serve as a special purpose vehicle for government to mobilize funds to commence the project which has already started at various stages with the aim of improving health care delivery in the country.
“The government wants to use GIIF as a vehicle, to raise the financing, for the Agenda 111. It doesn’t mean that GIIF itself is the funding source. So, as we speak, we have created a special purpose vehicle (SPV) account called the GIIF Health Infrastructure Account) he explained on Joy News’ The Probe programme monitored by GhanaWeb.
Providing further details of the Health Infrastructure Account, the deputy finance minister said the SPV will house any further funds mobilized for the project which will be managed and disbursed through the GIIF.
Government on August 17, 2021 cut sod for the commencement of work on 101 out of the 111-hospital project which seeks to scale up healthcare infrastructure across the country. The project is set to be completed in 18 months from commencement.