ACCRA, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Ghana's cocoa marketing board has signed a $800 million syndicated loan with banks and expects to draw down the first $600 million this week, COCOBOD's Deputy Chief Executive Officer Ray Ankrah said on Tuesday.
Ghana, the world's second-largest cocoa producer behind Ivory Coast, uses an annual syndicated loan to finance bean purchases from farmers. Usually agreed at the start of the season in September, this year's loan has faced delays.
"We are expecting $600 million by Friday and the remainder will come at the middle to end of January," Ankrah told Reuters.
"I joined COCOBOD in 2018 and this is the hardest transaction we have had," Ankrah added.
(Reporting by Maxwell Akalaare Adombila; Writing by Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Alexander Winning)
