GRi Business, Economics & Finance 04 –
02 - 2003
The GSE All-Share index gained
0.72 points to end the day at 1,435.42 points. Traded shares were up slightly
at 607,100 shares compared with 582,400 shares on Friday with nine of the 24
listed equities selling shares
On the broader market, there
were six positive gainers with no loser. British American Tobacco, Patterson Zochonis and Unilever gained one cedi each at 1,101 cedis,
2,016 cedis and 4,863 cedis respectively.
Guinness Ghana Limited was up by
seven cedis at 1,110 cedis, Ghana Commercial Bank appreciated by two cedis at
3,672 cedis and SSB Bank also gained two cedis at 4,154 cedis. Market
capitalisation was up at 6,408.11 billion cedis from 6,407.84 cedis at the
previous close. The change for the year remained at 2.87 per cent.
The following are the last
prices of listed equities in cedis:
ABL 390
AGC 28,000
ALW 3,700
BAT 1,101
+1
CFAO 67
EIC 4,600
FML 1,800
GBL 551
GCB 3,672 +2
GGL 1,110
+7
HFC 1,200
MGL 254
MLC 272
MOGL 19,730
PAF 750
PBC 390
PZ 2,016
+1
SCB 28,700
SPPC 387
SSB 4,154 +2
SWL 285
TBL 4,850
UNIL 4,863
+1
CMLT 460
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The review is necessary to
assess the performance of the new pricing system and to find out if the world
price of crude oil would have come down to enable the Petroleum Tender Board to
incorporate the amount for the payment of the debt at the Tema Oil Refinery.
Speaking to the GNA in an
interview, Mr Owusu admitted that the Ministry of Energy has a formula that
could incorporate a total of 530 cedis on a litre of fuel to pay the TOR debt
in 10 years.
He said if government had added
the amount to pay the debt to the current price, it would have pushed the price
of petrol to 23,000 cedis. "That would have been too much for the people
to bear."
He said the Ministry is waiting
for some time before going to Parliament for the review and possibly the
addition of the debt payment, which is already incorporated in the current
formula.
The GNA interviewed the Special
Adviser on the possibility of reducing the price of LPG to encourage its use,
and Mr Owusu said if the price of any of the petroleum products has to be
reduced at the time of the review, it would have to come about through cross
subsidies.
He explained cross subsidies to
mean a reduction in the price of one product for subsequent addition to another
product.
The interview by the GNA
followed concerns expressed by a section of the public that there was the need
for the government to reduce the price of LPG, a by-product of crude refining,
to serve as an incentive for people to use the product instead of relying on
fuel wood and charcoal which has been contributing to the depletion of the
country's forests.
Owusu said apart from cost
recovery, the current petroleum pricing formula enables the Tema Oil Refinery
(TOR) to spread the total cost of production on each of the products that comes
out of the refined crude oil.
He expressed the hope that
despite the situation in
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Tamale (Northern Region)
The Service, however, exceeded
its revenue target on import duties by collecting 676.5million cedis as against
396 million cedis, representing an increase of 70.84
per cent It also improved its Value Added Tax (VAT) on imports to 116.1 million
cedis as against the targeted figure of 103.9 million cedis, representing 11.71
per cent increase.
E.R.K. Lanyon,
Northern Regional Commissioner of CEPS, disclosed this in an interview with the
GNA in Tamale on Monday.
He said the CEPS failed to meet
its target on petroleum taxes, collecting only 19.8 billion cedis as against a
target of 45.1 billion cedis, representing a shortfall of 56.06 per cent.
The Commissioner attributed the
shortfall in petroleum taxes to the inability of the Volta Lake Transport
Company (VLTC) to transport the petroleum products from Akosombo
to the depot at Buipe due to the low level of the
The Buipe
depot serves the three Northern Regions. Lanyon said
the six major companies that were lifting oil for the three regions had to
transport the commodity by road with difficulty, adding that the state of
emergency imposed on Dagbon had affected import traffic.
He said the Northern Region,
which had enjoyed brisk business in import traffic, was now not the first
option for most traders especially the eastern corridor of the region had been
neglected because of the conflict in the area.
He noted that because of the
crisis in
On smuggling, he said the region
was so much alive with it and mentioned cigarettes, textiles electronic
equipment, and motorbikes as commodities that were being smuggled across to
Lanyon explained that smuggling is
thriving in the region because of the openness of the area, where there are
several footpaths leading to the borders, making it virtually impossible for
the security personnel to man all of them.
He mentioned inadequate staffing
logistics, health facilities, good roads, as well as lack of potable water and
electricity as some of the factors militating against the efficient operations
of the Service in the region.
Lanyon said his outfit would embark on
a tax educational campaign this year to sensitise the people on the need to pay
their taxes regularly.
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Currency Buying Selling
U.S. Dollar 8,368.82 cedis 8,567.91 cedis
Pound
Swiss Franc 6,105.59
6,248.68
Canadian Dollar 5,500.46 5,603.21
Danish Kroner 1,206.16 1,234.49
Japanese Yen 69.45 71.08
South African
Euro 8,974.09 9,185.54
CFA Franc 13.68 14.00
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