President of the Creative Arts Council, Mark Okraku Mantey has confirmed receipt of GHC 50 million from Government to the Creative Arts industry.
Minister for Finance Ken Ofori Attah, presenting the mid-year budget review on the floor of parliament noted that government was looking to increase the CapBuss Programme by GH¢150 million to, among others, facilitate credit of GH¢50 million to support the Creative Arts, the Media and the Conference of Independent Universities.
He indicated the government is allocating the money to cushion the Creative Arts and media.
Speaking in an interview on Peace FM, Mr. Okraku Mantey established that the Minister for Tourism and Creative Arts, Hon. Barbara Oteng Gyasi met with the leadership of the Creative Arts to discuss how the money will be distributed and used for its intended purposes.
The Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Hon. Barbara-Oteng Gyasi engaged with the leadership of the Creative Arts industry on Tuesday, July 28, 2020, at the Accra Tourist Information Centre, to discuss how players in the sector could successfully access the government stimulus package announced during the mid-year budget review.
Mrs. Oteng-Gyasi said the GHC50m earmarked by the government for the Creative Arts and Media industries was welcome news as it will help to cushion the finances of players in the two sectors in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She said her outfit would further engage the Finance Ministry to fashion out the appropriate modalities that would be suitable for the Creative Arts Sector to access the fund.
She charged the Creative Arts practitioners who would want to access the facility to endeavour to get Tax Identification Numbers (TIN) for them to qualify for the package.
The Minister further indicated that the government recognized the potentials that abound in the Creative Arts industry and the Tourism Sector, hence the various packages offered to them.
She said the overriding aim of all these incentives to the Creative Arts sector, was to revamp the sector to become buoyant and translate the gains into GDP growth, thereby creating employment opportunities for the Ghanaian citizenry.
She used the occasion to implore the leadership of the Creative Arts sector to suggest appropriate modalities that would enable a larger number of practitioners to successfully apply for the fund.
