The Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, says government will exclude references to mineral royalties’ collateralization in a revised 2022 budget.
In a statement issued on Sunday, November 28, 2021, and signed by Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, the Minority asked the government to among other things abandon the proposed electronic transaction levy and the Agyapa royalties deal in its revised budget.
“The NDC Minority will not support any collateralization of our revenues, particularly mineral resources. The future of our country will be bleak if we continue in that regard. We cannot jeopardise the future generations of our country just for our present desires,” it said.
Responding to this call in a press briefing on Monday, Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta said ”with regard to the Agyapa Royalty deal, we shall amend paragraphs 442 and 443 to take out references to mineral royalties collateralization.”
“It is important to note that, any reference to Agyapa was for informational purposes, and as such was not reflected in the fiscal framework,” he further clarified.
About the Agyapa deal
The Agyapa Royalty deal was proposed by the government last year to raise funds through mineral royalties for key infrastructure projects, but could not be passed after stakeholders rejected the deal.
The deal became a subject of hot debate after the opposition National Democratic Congress and some stakeholders kicked against it.
The woes of the deal were subsequently compounded by a 64-paged corruption risk analysis report released by the then Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu.
The government subsequently suspended the deal.
