The government has announced plans to launch a National Development Bank in 2018 aimed at injecting extra funds in the agricultural sector.

Presenting the 2018 Budget Statement and Economic Policy in Parliament on Wednesday, the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta said the Bank is part of government’s plans to “achieve an efficient financial sector with innovative and long term financing instruments to support economic development.”

According to the minister, the National Development Bank will be mandated to mobilize private capital towards agricultural and industrial transformation.

He said other requisite financial architecture that will be used to rake in capital include restructuring the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF) with the capability to mobilise foreign private capital for critical infrastructure development using a private sector model and to enhance the capacity of the Ghana Exim Bank to support agriculture and industrialisation for export.

Mr. Ofori-Atta added: “The “Akufo-Addo Program for Economic Transformation (AAPET)” will, by mobilizing and leveraging public, private, and public-private partnership investments, modernize and transform agriculture, develop linkages that will accelerate the industrialization of our economy, and develop major infrastructure projects that support the agricultural zones of the country and industrialization agenda of Government.

“Under the Program government will: 1. Ramp up investments under the Planting for Food and Jobs; 2. abolish duties on some agricultural produce processing equipment and machinery; 3. Support the development of agribusiness start-ups through the establishment of a grant funding facility; 4. Establish a GH¢400 million fund to de-risk the agriculture and agribusiness sector through sustainable agriculture financing and crop insurance schemes.”