Accra-Kumasi Expressway to be funded without borrowing – Ato Forson

Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson says the government will finance the proposed Accra-Kumasi Expressway without resorting to borrowing.

Speaking at the Ishmael Yamson & Associates Business Roundtable on Thursday, Dr. Forson said the Mahama administration was relying on petroleum revenues and mineral royalties to fund the flagship infrastructure project under the government’s Big Push agenda.

“Granted, the Accra-Kumasi Expressway is going to cost us 4 billion dollars. We’ll fund it without borrowing,” he stated.

Dr. Forson explained that the government had introduced policy changes to ensure that oil revenues are used exclusively for major infrastructure development instead of recurrent expenditure.

“We’ve said that use Ghana’s oil revenue only for infrastructure use. Big ticket infrastructure,” he said.

According to him, the government has already earmarked about GH¢4.5 billion for road infrastructure this year as part of efforts to improve the country’s transportation network.

He disclosed that revenues generated from petroleum and mineral royalties had been consolidated to support the construction of the expressway linking Accra and Kumasi.

“I took that money, and I had another 500 million dollars. The two put together are a billion dollars. That is what we are using to build the Accra-Kumasi Expressway,” Dr. Forson noted.

The Finance Minister said Ghana generated nearly $1 billion from petroleum revenue and mineral royalties last year and is expecting an additional $1.5 billion this year.

“This year, our estimation is that we are getting another 1.5 billion dollars. Last year and this year, 2.5 billion dollars,” he stated.

He argued that redirecting these revenues into infrastructure projects would help the country avoid unnecessary debt accumulation while accelerating development.

Dr. Forson criticised previous spending patterns where oil revenues were used for non-essential activities, including travel and administrative expenses.

“In the past, the oil revenue accrued to the budget was shared so thinly. We used to use some to buy newspapers. We used to use some to buy air tickets,” he said.

He added that the government had stopped such expenditure in order to prioritise strategic infrastructure investments.

“And so all of that, we’ve stopped it, and we are targeting major infrastructure,” he stressed.

Dr. Forson further indicated that once the Accra-Kumasi Expressway project is completed, the government would channel similar financing arrangements into other major national infrastructure projects.