The Ministry of Trade and Industry has refuted claims that it is unable to account for GHS 269 million in interest subsidies paid to select enterprises under the One District, One Factory (1D1F) policy.
Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, the Ranking Member of Parliament’s Trade and Industry Committee, claimed that the Ministry could only account for about GH₵62 million of the GH₵269 million allocated for interest subsidies at the budget hearings.
“Unfortunately, only GH₵62,281,484 was accounted for by the Ministry.” What this means is that a total of GH₵207,407,899 has been unaccounted for. That sum of money, as far as we’re concerned, is missing… Mr. Buah alleged that Alan Kyerematen “must come clean and explain where the money of over GH₵207 million is.”
However, the Ministry, in a statement signed by its Chief Director, Patrick Yaw Nimo, dismissed this claim, insisting that the GHS 207 million was in the custody of the Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) pending the maturity dates for interest payments for loans granted to IDIF companies.
It indicated that Mr. Buah’s claim was unfounded, given that the Ministry is not responsible for disbursing interest subsidies to firms.
“The Ministry wishes to state categorically that the said statement attributed to the Ranking Member is not only misleading but totally inaccurate. Neither the Minister nor any representative of the Ministry is responsible for disbursing interest subsidies directly to IDIF companies.”
