Govt Must Clear All Debt by April – BDCs

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors, Senyo Hosi has told Citi Business News members of the chamber are expecting government to clear the final part of debt owed them by next month.

The total debt as at 2016 owed Bulk Oil Distribution Companies was estimated to have hit about 1.2 billion cedis.

But after the issue of the Energy Bond last year, the debt was reduced by some 540 million cedis.

Speaking to Citi Business News, at the sidelines of press soiree, Senyo Hosi maintained that the chamber has been lenient in demanding the money, hence government must doll all it can next month to clear the final part of the debt.

He explained that a part of the debt has been validated and cleared, leaving a substantial portion that must also be cleared to make the BDCs effective in their operations.

“The validated debt so far has been cleared, we have three things outstanding. There is a portion that is part of the principal that is being validated right now. I think it will be done and hopefully next month it will be cleared,” he said.

Mr. Hosi maintained that it is pertinent for the payment to be done in full since it will bring some relief to BDCs.

“We also have the interest component which is still being negotiated and finalized. I hope we can finalize that this month and then we can bring closure to the entire debt situation,” he stressed.

Recalling how the BDCs have bend over several times for the national good, Mr. Hosi pointed out that government must also show the same level of commitment in paying the debt on time.

He cited for example that, BDCs have shelved 700 million cedis debt to give government space to redeem the debt.

“We have been quite reasonable with government and we expect government to be very reasonable with us. The banks and the BDCs have come together to agree to take some kind of heat, we are trying to shelve off about 700 million cedis in a legitimate claim that is being asked, we have done some before. We expect government to also play their role so that we can all bring closure to it and we can focus on making the industry great,” he stated.