The Ministry of Finance has confirmed the sale of nearly five million Anglogold Ashanti shares. It however says it still holds a 3 percent stake in the mining giant because the shares that were sold are not part of its original shareholding. Bloomberg which reported the sale yesterday, indicates that Ghana's stake in the company has been reduced to 1.72 percent as a result of the sale. A senior official at the Ministry however explains to Joy Business the transaction involved shares that were acquired in share swap deal proposed by Anglogold to avoid paying more royalties. According to the official who prefers to remain anonymous for now, Anglogold gave out the 4.88 million shares early last year when government sought to review its stability agreement which would have seen a doubling of its royalty payment to 6 percent. Some 215 million dollars grossed in the deal is expected to come through sometime next week. Joy Business has gathered government wants to use proceeds from the sale to take care of some unbudgeted expenditure it incurred last year. Government is currently the fifth largest shareholder in Anglogold Ashanti. Source: Joy News/Ghana