The government says it will repay the facility with the proceeds of an Eurobond sale.
The government of Ghana has announced that it is in talks with Standard Chartered Plc and Standard Bank Group Ltd. for a bridge loan of $750 million.
Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori Atta
The finance ministry listed the proposal for a syndicated loan in the last Friday’s parliamentary order papers and said it is intended to “fund or refinance development projects and for liability management.
Recently, Nigeria appointed some five banks as lead arrangers for Eurobond sale which included StanChart and Johannesburg-based Standard Bank.
Ghana has, therefore, seized the opportunity to negotiate the $750 million loan from the StanChart and Standard Bank.
ADVERTISEMENT
The chairman of the finance committee, Mark Assibey-Yeboah told Bloomberg in an interview that the facility would be a short-term loan.
He said, “This is bridge financing against the Eurobond,” adding that, “the bond sale may take two or three months to be finalised.
Ghana needs $2 billion in foreign-currency debt to help finance its budget and will take on an additional $1 billion if it’s able to secure loans or securities at lower rates than it’s paying for existing liabilities.
This loan will hence be used to fund or refinance development projects and for liability management.
