Government has disbursed a total amount of GH₵ 260 million as interest subsidies for 128 companies under its flagship One District, One Factory (1D1F) programme.

This was revealed by the Minister for Trade and Industry, John Alan Kyeremanten when the Bole/Bamboi MP, Yusif Sulemana requested comprehensive information on the amount government has expended on subsidizing loan interests for 1D1F companies, and the list of beneficiaries.

According to Mr Kyeremanten, Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) have approved a total amount of GH₵ 2.69 billion loans of which GHS 1.66 billion have already been disbursed to the 128 1D1F companies.

As such, the Akufo-Addo administration is providing the needed support to reduce the risk of financial loss.

“Mr. Speaker, it is worth noting that the lending risk associated with the said transactions is borne by the PFIs. The interest subsidies provided by government are only meant to de-risk the loans extended to the 1D1F Companies.

“Against this background, the Ministry of Trade and Industry has signed MoUs with the PFIs which provides inter alia that: "Each Party undertakes to take all reasonable steps to preserve the confidentiality of information disclosed, including without limitation requesting that the confidential information shall not be released to third parties or the public" the Minister noted.

He further added that “Mr. Speaker, in the light of the above, the Ministry considers it inappropriate to provide the list of beneficiaries with matching amounts as requested by the Honourable Member.

However, the Minister outlined PFIs including GCB Bank Limited, Prudential Bank Limited, Société General, Universal Merchant Bank, ADB Ghana Limited, Ecobank Ghana, Standard Chartered Bank, Absa Bank Ghana Limited, CAL Bank Limited and Stanbic Bank Ghana as organisations involved in the referenced transactions.