<<Print>>

Government is asking the European Union (EU) to release some donor funding worth 60 million Euros to support this year�s budget. �The EU must release the 60 million Euros that our Minister of Finance has been requesting for in the last two months in order that he can have some support for his budget,� the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr. Haruna Iddrisu said. Citi News has gathered that the Finance Ministry has been chasing the funds for over two months. President John Dramani Mahama earlier also urged the EU to disburse the funds when he held discussions with the President of the EU, Jose Manuel Barroso at Brussels. Speaking at an EU Business Summit, Mr. Iddrisu said the funds will among others reduce government�s high budget deficit. The Minister also emphasized the need to secure the fund to address the country�s current economic challenges saying �If we don�t check the current challenges facing the Ghanaian economy, we will be opening it up to more risks, which in itself will be a disincentive to our investments.� Meanwhile the board of the World Bank is expected to review a proposal for a 50 million dollar donor support fund to Ghana. The funding will be used to finance the Ghana Social Opportunities Project. The project is expected to strengthen and expand support through the expansion of the coverage of Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty (LEAP). The World Bank last week gave Ghana a 229 million dollar grant to support two programmes expected to accelerate access to education and health delivery in the country. 73 million dollars of the amount was allocated to the Maternal and Child Health &Nutrition Improvement Project while 156 million dollars was allocated to the Ghana Secondary Education Improvement Project. The intervention was approved by the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank Group on May 20, 2014.