The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, on Tuesday told Parliament that Ghana’s total foreign indebtedness stood at $2.7 billion as of April 30, 2007.

According to him, the debt stock consisted of $2.2 billion long term and $462.8 million short term debts, which was a sharp drop from the debt of $6.6 billion debt that the country owed in the year 2000.

Mr Baah-Wiredu who said this in answer to a question by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Jomoro, Mr Lee Ocran, explained that the long term debt of $2.2 billion consisted of a $1.3 billion debt owed to multilateral agencies and $931.24 million owed to bilateral development partners.

The MP had asked the minister what the country's total foreign indebtedness was by the end of April, 2007.

The minister further explained that the country also owed $95 million to foreign commercial banks and export credit agencies.

In another development, the MP for Sefwi Wiawso, Mr Evans Paul Aidoo, enquired from the minister when cocoa clinics would be established in the cocoa growing areas.

Replying, Mr Baah-Wiredu said the Ghana Cocoa Board had been actively involved in the provision of health facilities in the cocoa growing areas.

He said the board constructed clinics at Nkrankwanta in the Brong Ahafo Region, Tepa and Trabuom in the Ashanti Region.

These clinics were handed over to the Ministry of Health under the restructuring of the board carried out in the early 1990s," the minister said.

He informed the House that the chief and elders of Sefwi Debiso had released 3.64 acres of land to the board for the construction of a hospital.

Mr Baah-Wiredu added that the board was in the process of engaging consultants for the development of a 24-bed hospital on the land.

The minister said a contract had also been awarded for the expansion of the clinic at the Cocoa Research Institute to cater for the surrounding communities.

"Mr Speaker, the board is in the process of providing health facilities in other cocoa growing areas within its budgetary limitations," he said.

For his part, the MP for Dormaa East, Mr Yaw Ntow-Ababio, enquired from the minister when the Produce Buying Company would re-open the three cocoa district offices which were closed down in the Dormaa District in the Brong Ahafo Region.

Mr Baah-Wiredu said that the three cocoa districts, Amasu, Dormaa and Wamfie, were closed down because of the introduction of the multiple purchasing in the internal marketing of cocoa in 1993.

He explained that it was decided that districts with output below 3,000 tonnes should be merged or closed down, adding that the management of PBC would consider re-opening the districts only when it was convinced their output had improved tremendously.

He said it was not possible for the three cocoa districts to be re-opened now because their total production at the time of the closure had fallen from 2,006 tonnes to 1,395 tonnes.


Source: Daily Graphic