Cabinet retreat on COVID-19 begins

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his cabinet have begun a three-day retreat to examine the impact and the implications of the Coronavirus pandemic across all governance sectors in the country.

Various recommendations made over the past months would also be considered.

The retreat would also allow government to place its recommendations before Parliament during the mid-year review, Mr Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, the Minister of Information, said.

Speaking at a media briefing to update the public on efforts being made, Mr Oppong-Nkrumah said the President has subsequently instructed all ministers to report on the impact across their sectors and proffer recommendations for recovery.

The Minister said from the onset of the pandemic, the Finance Minister briefed the nation through Parliament on the projected economic impact of the pandemic and measures that government was projecting to take at the time to mitigate the impact.

Since then, the government has rolled-out a number of measures in responding to the health crisis and its attendant socio-economic challenges that has come with its management.

These measures included the free water supply for three months and the free electricity for three months for lifeline consumers and 50 per cent discount for non-lifeline consumers among several others.

There was also the discussion of a soft loan programme and the facilitation of other loan facilities through some of the commercial banks, Mr Oppong-Nkrumah said.

He said eight weeks into the pandemic as Ghana gets closer to mid-year, government has gathered substantial data on the real impact of the COVID-19 across various sectors including, education, health, economy, trade, the legal front among others areas.

Source: GNA