Government has announced the extension of a three months package of free water and reduced electricity to further cushion Ghanaians as part of response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier in April this year, President Nana Akufo-Addo announced a 50% reduction in cost of electricity and free water for three months, an intervention which caused government over Ghc 1 billion.
Though the period for reduced cost of electricity is yet to expire, Finance Minister announced an extension by three more months covering both electricity and water.
“It takes a caring government to be for the people and for business, large and small, to choose to subsidise electricity consumption by 50% to four million (4,086,286) households and nearly 700,000 (686,522) businesses at a cost of GHC1.02 billion in three months. And we will extend the coverage for lifeline customers for another three months,” he told parliament on Thursday.
According to him, other incentives and interventions aimed at supporting Ghanaians are in force, reflecting government’s resolve to care for the people.
“It takes a caring government to establish a guarantee scheme of GHC2 billion to enable businesses to borrow from banks at more affordable rates and at longer tenor to save their business and retain jobs …
“It takes a caring government to partner with Labour and Employers to initiate an unemployment insurance scheme to provide temporary income support to workers when they lose their jobs.
“It takes a caring government and its central bank to create an environment for the banks to provide GHC7 billion to help their clients through loan restructurings, interest rate reductions and granting of new facilities and offering moratoriums on debt servicing.”
