Introduction
of Euro has not impacted on business - GUTA
GSE
remains unchanged as investors adopt wait and see attitude
Accra
(Greater Accra) 22 January 2002 - The business community said on Monday that
the introduction of the Euro, a single currency for the European Community, had
not impacted on their daily activities.
Paa Kofi
Ansong, Spokesman of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), told the
Ghana News Agency "there has not been much difference on business scene
since the introduction of the Euro. Doing business with the Euro is a matter of
simple conversion."
He said
most of their transactions were quoted in dollar equivalent from the importing
country and at port of entry adding "this makes it easier for us." ''Everybody
in the business community understands the conversion system and transfers money
at the banks in dollar equivalent'', he said.
Paa Kofi
Ansong said next to the dollar was the British pound and the Duestch mark with
which businesses were transacted. Any other currency was converted to the
dollar equivalent.
"Our
business partners are in tune with the conversion system and the dollar factor
and find it portable and easy to handle," Paa Kofi said, adding that the
Euro would rather have an impact in Francophone countries that transacted
business with currencies that had had to be withdrawn.
He said the
Euro was rather absent at the forex bureaux, where travellers changed only
dollars and the pound sterling but the banks were responding well to the needs
of the business community.
Mr Larry
Yirenkyi-Boafo, Treasurer of the Trust Bank, reiterated the sentiments of GUTA,
saying that the banks had been dealing with the Euro since its introduction a
year ago.
He said
transactions in the Euro had, therefore, had no significant impact. Mr
Yirenkyi-Boafo, however, said the withdrawal of some currencies had given a
boost to the Euro at the banks but its level of activity had not changed much.
"We are not dealing in huge volumes but we expect it will take time for
the Euro to pick up."
Mr Yirenkyi
said a couple of travellers going to Europe rather requested for the Euro from
the banks but otherwise "there has not been much difference." He said
perhaps the only thing that had changed since the introduction of the Euro
currency was the printing of Euro invoice by a few businessmen. The Euro
currency was officially launched on the international market on January one.
GRi…/
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Accra
(Greater Accra) 22 January 2002 - The main indicators of the Ghana Stock
Exchange (GSE) remained static once again on Monday as investors continued to
adopt a wait-and-see attitude.
The GSE
All-Share Index, market capitalization and change for the year were unchanged
and only six of the 22 listed equities sold shares.
The Index,
the main market indicator, which had changed only once since the year began,
remained on 956.44 points. Change for the year was 0.05 points and market
capitalisation remained at 3,904.98 billion cedis.
Total
shares traded went down further from 64,800 shares on Friday to 26,100 shares.
The GSE All
Share Index has made only one move this year. 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
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Accra
(Greater Accra) 22 January 2002
Currency Buying Selling
US Dollar 7,174.00 7,369.45
Pound
Sterling 10,312.63 10,597.27
Swiss Franc 4,318.34 4,433.82
Canadian
Dollar 4,434.97 4,554.05
Japanese
Yen
54.21 55.67
S/African
Rand
624.94 638.21
Euro 6,347.40 6,518.99
CFA Franc 9.68 9.94
Naira 64.31 66.06
Ecowas/WAUA 9,017.06 --------
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Sefwi Afere
(Western Region) 22 January 2002 - A number of cocoa farmers, particularly the
youth in the Juabeso Bia District are shifting from the growing of cocoa to the
cultivation of black pepper for export.
Dr. Evan
Lawson, Juabeso-Bia District Agricultural Officer, disclosed this when
introducing members of Juabeso Black Peppers Growers Association to Mr. Edward
Collins Boateng, Executive Secretary of the Ghana Export Promotion Council
(GEPC|) at a meeting at Afere near Juabeso on Friday.
He said, at
the moment more farmers mostly the youth have registered with his office to go
into black pepper cultivation. Dr. Lawson said in view of low price for cocoa
on the world market, there was the need now for cocoa farmers to diversify
their farming activities to supplement
their income from cocoa.
GRi.../
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