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Deputy Energy Minister Andrew Egyapa Mercer has stressed that despite prevailing economic difficulties that have left the Government struggling to make some statutory payments, the energy sector is being well-catered for, and is therefore unaffected by the economic challenges.
He noted that the Government has placed a lot of importance on energy and that power cuts cannot come about due to non-payment of Government to players in the sector.
Answering a question on Joy FM’s current affairs show, Newsfile, on whether current economic challenges will negatively impact the energy sector and lead to power outages (dumsor), Mr Egyapa Mercer emphasized that the difficulties will not affect the energy sector.
“In spite of the difficult economic circumstances that have bedevilled this country over the past three years, the lights have largely been on. What it means is that the Government has prioritized energy and has invested. And rightfully so to the detriment of some sectors of the budgets and all that. So that assurance [ that dumsor will not recur due to economic challenges] is given,” he stressed.
Some parts of the country have recently experienced intermittent power outages, prompting fears of a return to prolonged power cuts due to load shedding ( dumsor). But Mr Mercer has allayed the fears, assuring that eventualities that led to the power cuts are over.
Ghana’s economic challenges have forced it to seek a bailout from the International Monetary Fund( IMF) to enable it to correct balance of payment challenges. The Government, in order to meet conditionalities to enjoy the IMF bailout implemented a debt restructuring programme, including a Domestic Debt Exchange Programme that gave investors a massive ‘haircut’. Price hikes and the general high cost of living provoked protests last year.
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Ghananewshome
