Government paying US$140m to IPPs every month — BoG

Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison has revealed government is currently paying more than US$140 million every month for power produced by independent power producers, regardless of whether the power is used or not.

Dr. Addison speaking at Monday’s Monetary Policy Committee press briefing in Accra said the amount is a drain on the country’s reserves and is a major contributory factor to the local currency’s depreciation against other major currencies.

“We have seen that we are paying US$140 million a month for this energy take or pay arrangements. This contributes a major source of the outflow with an impact on our reserves. We lost almost US$600 million on our reserves in the last few months,” the governor stated.

The governor’s revelation comes after the government had undertaken a review of a number power purchasing agreements which it had said do not inure to the advantage of government.