Accra (Greater Accra) 26 February 2002- Barclays Bank (Ghana) on Monday announced that it has reduced the base rate from 34 per cent to 29.5 per cent in response to market demands.
Mr Felix Nyarko-Pong, Head of Treasury of the Bank, said the decision was in accordance with current downward drift in inflation, Government treasury rates as well as positive macro-economic indicators.
The rate of inflation is quoted at 21 per cent and the government said it was aiming at a lower rate this year. He said Barclays was supportive of government's Golden Age of Business. Barclays cut interest rate to 34 per cent at he beginning of the year.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra) 26 February 2002- The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) on Monday requested the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to give figures of tax collection from other transport organisations along with that of the Union to give a true reflection of total revenue collected as daily vehicle income tax.
A letter signed by Mr E. K. Gbedemah, National Chairman of the GPRTU to the IRS and copied to the GNA, said the Union was not the only body that collected the income tax.
The letter was in reaction to portions of the budget that alleged that revenue collected by the GPRTU did not match the estimated revenue. The budget also said the GPRTU was able to collect only 5.6 billion cedis out of the estimated 28 billion cedis projected by the IRS.
The letter rejected the budget statement with reference to the Union's revenue collection saying, "the projected 28 billion cedis was for the year 2002 and not for the previous year."
"If there had been any projection at all, that had never been brought to the notice of the Union," the letter stated. The letter said the PROTOA, Co-operative and the Haulage Association also collected the tax and noted that statistics on vehicular population were not made known to the GPRTU.
"We are therefore, with the firm conviction that if revenue from operations of these other transport organisations had been added to that of the GPRTU, the story would have been different," it added.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra) 26 February 2002- The GSE All-Share Index maintained its momentum on Monday when it appreciated by 1.7 per cent, thanks once again to a 50-cedi gain by Unilever (UNIL).
The equity, which gained 50 cedis last Wednesday, closed the day climbed at 2,600 cedis. The index, the main market indicator, ended up by at 967.87 points from 966.17 points. Change for the year was up at 1.25 per cent from 1.07 per cent and market capitalisation was also higher at 3,927.12 billion cedis from 3,923.83 billion cedis.
On the broader market, there were two price changes. Unil was up 50 cedis at 2,600 and Ghana Commercial bank (GCB) gained one cedi at 1,581 cedis. Total shares traded fell from 523,700 to 35,500.
The following are the closing prices of the equities in cedis:
ABL 320
AGC 18,800
ALW 4,300
BAT 627
CFAO 60
EIC 3,117
FML 950
GBL 1,000
GCB 1,581 +1
GGL 910
HFC 945
MGL 241
MLC 146
MOGL 18,502
PAF 750
PBC 450
PZ 1,051
SCB 20,552
SPPC 342
SSB 2,201
UNIL 2,600 +50
CMLT 430
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra) 26 February 2002 The Ghana Association of Bankers, on Tuesday February 26, released the following average inter bank exchange rates of the cedi to the dollar and derived rates for other major foreign currencies.
Currency Buying Selling
US Dollar 7,348.82 7,572.82
Pound Sterling 10,488.24 10,811.72
Swiss Franc 4,334.70 4,465.25
Canadian Dollar 4,582.82 4,719.42
Japanese Yen 54.89 56.54
S/African Rand 644.16 660.90
Euro 6,401.90 6,593.31
CFA Franc 9.76 10.05
Naira 65.66 67.66
ECOWAS/WAUA 9,490.59 -----------
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com