Banking system to collapse if government
absorbs TOR debt
Airlines urged to form regional alliances to
compete globally
World bank, IMF to meet poor countries,
donors
GSE All-Share Index marks time
Banking system to collapse if government absorbs
TOR debt
Akosombo (Eastern Region) 12 January 2002 - The Deputy Finance Minister, Dr Gheysika Adombire Agambila has said that if the government attempted to play politics with Tema Oil Refinery debt of two trillion cedis and absorbed it the financial system in the country would collapse.
He said playing politics with fuel pricing as the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was trying to force the government to do would have catastrophic consequences since the amount owed by TOR was more than the total bank asset of 1.6 trillion cedis in Ghana.
This means: "Even if all the deposits of the banks were borrowed, TOR would still be in debt." Dr Agambila, therefore, called on the NDC to show a great deal of circumspection and understanding of the issues involved before "waging its relentless propaganda on government to reduce fuel prices".
The Deputy Minister gave this explanation when addressing two Peoples' Assemblies at Agormanya in the Manya Krobo District and Akosombo in Asuogyaman District in the Eastern Region on Thursday as part of activities marking the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) first year in office.
He said the NDC had "misunderstood the import parity formula adopted by the government for the determination of oil prices," noting that "the import parity did not depend solely on the world crude oil price as was often floated by the NDC".
The Deputy Minister stressed that it was not the pleasure of government to keep fuel prices high but that a way must be found to liquidate TOR's huge debts, which was accrued because of omission on the part of the NDC, which failed to increase fuel prices because it found it to be politically inexpedient in an election year - 2000.
Dr Agamibila stated that government would continue to maintain the Value Added Tax (VAT) because there was no alternative source of revenue to government. On the performance of the lotteries, he announced that in view of the privatisation policy adopted by the former government, the games sector, which used to contribute a large chunk of the national revenue, declined to almost zero.
This, he said, informed government's decision to disband private lotto operations in line with the practice in other parts of the world, noting that currently, the "lotteries were being run by individuals for their own benefit."
Dr Agambila said contrary to what was being canvassed by the opponents of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, the policy would benefit the country by helping it come out of its economic difficulties.
GRi…/
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Airlines urged to form regional alliances
to compete globally
Accra (Greater Accra) 12 January 2002 - African Airlines have been urged to form regional alliances to compete in the global aviation industry.
Mr Alex Seidu Sofo, Deputy Minister of Roads and Transport on Friday said there was also the need for them to develop their own markets and hub to boast the industry and to assist in the economic development of their countries.
Mr Sofo making the remarks at a reception and awards night organised by the Board of Airline Representatives, Ghana (BARGH), noted that the September 11, terrorist attack on the United States had affected the industry financially and raised security concerns, thus more stringent measures would have to be applied on African air carriers to enable them fly to Europe and the US.
The BARGH consist of all airlines operating in Ghana. It provides a forum for members to examine, discuss, and express common issues and problems affecting the aviation and airline industry in Ghana.
He said Ghana had adopted a "liberalised skies policy" aimed at making the Kotoka International Airport a hub within the sub-region and urged countries with air service agreements with Ghana or wish to do so, to take advantage of the new regime.
Mrs Esi Anno Sackey, Chairperson of the BARGH said the industry made significant contribution to the country's economic growth, adding that in Ghana about 600,000 passengers were carried by airline in the year 2000 while 40,000 tonnes of cargo move to and fro the country in 2001.
Mrs Sackey said the association was looking forward to the removal of taxes on aviation fuel to conform with International Civil Aviation Organisation recommendations and establish an export shed, provide ex-ray machine and cold storage facility within the cargo village at the airport.
She expressed the hope that the government in the near future would introduce measures to facilitate the re-emergence of domestic air travel to promote business and tourism to all parts of the country.
The award winners included, the Aviation Personality of the year, which went to Captain Joe Boachie, Director General of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority, (GCAA) while the best travel and tour agency went to Expert Tours.
The best Cargo Agent went to AGS Worldwide Movers and the best Airport Unit went to African Ground Cargo (AFGO). They all received certificates and citations.
GRi…/
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World bank, IMF to meet poor countries,
donors
Accra (Greater Accra) 12 January 2002 - A four-day conference begins in Washington on January 14 to bring together officials from poor countries, administrators from donor agencies and representatives from civil society from the North and South to dialogue on global poverty and learn from each other.
A statement issued in Accra on Friday by the World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the meeting was being held under the auspices of the two Bretton Woods institutions. The convener of the meeting is Ghanaian Gobind Nankani, Vice-President of the World Bank.
It said officials to represent Ghana would be from the Ministries of Finance, Economic Planning and Regional Co-operation as well as civil society participants from as Save the Children's Fund and ISODEC.
The statement said views of those who had participated in the formulation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) in particular would be heard. It said certain themes had emerged from a series of consultations around the globe over the past few months.
"When the Executive Boards of the Bank and the Fund finally convene in March to consider current trends in the fight against poverty and the home grown efforts of various developing countries in mainstreaming poverty reduction through the PRSP processes, there are a number of key questions they will need to address.
"For Example, have the participatory processes established by national governments met their objective? Are new approaches to poverty reduction moving in the right direction?"
The statement said the Ghana government was preparing its own PRSP as a basis for future assistance from the Bank and Fund. It said an interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper was considered by the Boards of the Bank and Fund in August 2000 and found to be a good basis for developing the full PRSP.
It said the draft Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy contained policies based on macroeconomic stability, agricultural and rural development, governance and public sector reforms, including decentralisation, equitable access to health and education services and protection of the vulnerable.
GRi…/
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GSE All-Share Index marks time
Accra (Greater Accra) 12 January 2002 - The All-Share Index of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) marked time again on Friday, the first trading session after several market indices made their first move of the year on Wednesday when two equities made gains
The Ghana Stock Exchange All-Share Index ended at 956.44 points and change for the year was unchanged at 0.05 per cent. There was no price change on Friday and market capitalization also stood still at 3,90498 billion cedis.
However, shares traded were up at 225,000 from 41,300 with Ghana
Commercial Bank selling 182,100 shares. Only six of the 22 listed companies sold shares.
The following are the closing prices of the equities in cedis:
ABL 320
AGC 18,800
ALW 4,300
BAT 627
CFAO 60
EIC 3,061
FML 950
GBL 1,000
GCB 1,570
GGL 901
HFC 952
MGL 241
MLC 145
MOGL 18,500
PAF 800
PBC 450
PZ 1,010
SCB 20,551
SPPC 341
SSB 2,200
UNIL 2,300
CMLT 430
The following is the summarized report on trading in Government of Ghana Bonds for January 8:
Secondary trading in GGILBs commenced on December 28, 2001. The total value of
GGILBs issued and listed at the commencement of trading is 1,003.72 billion cedis.
The total value of GGILBs issued and listed as at January 7, 2002 is 1,074.23 billion cedis. No trades were recorded on January 8. There were no offers or bids.
GRi…/
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