Ghana’s Minister for Roads and Highways, Governs Kwame Agbodza, has disclosed that the government is actively considering the use of pension funds as a means to finance critical road infrastructure across the country.
Speaking on Citi FM’s Citi Breakfast Show monitored by Kumasimail, Mr. Agbodza addressed concerns about the financial challenges facing the Roads Ministry.
Responding to questions about seeking alternative domestic funding sources, particularly leveraging pension funds for self-financing road projects as has been done in some Western economies, he confirmed that such measures are under government consideration.
“The government, through the finance industry, is exploring this,” Mr. Agbodza stated. “Yes, I know that the pension fund has got very healthy amounts in there and there are other funds.”
He highlighted ongoing discussions within the financial sector, noting that banks and other institutions have expressed interest in supporting road projects.
However, he also emphasized the constraints imposed by Ghana’s current agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which limits the government’s ability to take on new financial commitments.
“Some of those things can be done beyond the IMF, because currently we are not allowed to actually enter into anything that looks close enough to what you can call government taking on additional borrowing or commitment,” he explained.
“People come to me every day, I have a friend in Dubai who has got 2 billion, I have a friend in Turkey who has got 3 billion. I simply say that we are under an IMF program. You would require government commitment, and the government cannot give you one cedi commitment as long as we remain under this program. So by those ones pension funds, I know the finance industry is exploring,” the Minister added.
Source: www.Kumasimail/Kwadwo Owusu
