Ghana's Dep. Finance Minister Mrs. Abena Osei Asare
Deputy Minister for Finance, Mrs. Abena Osei Asare has laid down the guidelines to be followed by small scale businesses that want to access the government's GHC600 million stimulus package.
This package forms part of the various interventions made by the government to mitigate the adverse impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on businesses, individuals and households.
The GHC600m soft loan scheme will have a one-year moratorium and two years repayment plan.
Deputy Minister for Finance, Mrs. Abena Osei Asare explained that there are some criteria for the said package and businesses will need to meet the requirement.
According to her, a business or an individual must first be associated with a recognized trade group, have a Tax Identification Number (TIN) and also own either a bank account or a mobile money account.
“There are three things that everybody who hopes to qualify for such relief should have.”
“One is that you should belong to a recognized trade association; two is that you should have a tax identification number (TIN) and then three you should have a bank account or a mobile money account. These are the three basic things that we will be looking out for,” she said.
“But the criteria for identifying these beneficiaries will be developed by NBSSI, so they will roll those out in conjunction with the rural banks. We think that to manage these things effectively or to implement it effectively, we should establish a steering committee chaired by both the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Trade and Industry,” she stated.
Gov't absorbs 50% electricity bill for residential, commercial users for three months
President Akufo-Addo has announced that the government will absorb 50% of the electricity bill for residential and commercial users in the country.
The President in his 6th COVID-19 address said March 2020 bill will be used as a benchmark for the directive.
"We have decided on further mitigating the impact for all Ghanaians for the next three months, April, May and June, Government will fully absorb electricity bills for the poorest of the poor that is for all lifeline consumers. That is free electricity for persons who consume 0-50 kilowatts hours a month for this period, in addition to all other consumers, the residential and commercial government will absorb 50% of your electricity bill for this period using your March 2020 bill as your benchmark..."
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